Home challengers Nagpada Basketball Association (NBA) rode on the brilliance of sharpshooter Raza H., who with a later charge shot 11 points, including a three pointer.
Mastan YMCA (green) and Savio Club players are seen in action during their men’s semi-final match. Mastan YMCA won 78-57 (half-time: 38-26) to advance into the final.
Raza sunk a decisive basket just before the final whistle which helped NBA scrape past Savio Club by a tight 60-58 margin in a thrilling and keenly contested Junior boys’ under-18 semi-final match of the Nagpada Basketball Association (NBA) organized NBA Invitational Basketball tournament and played under floodlights at the NBA basketball courts.
The match witnessed a close tussle for supremacy and there was not much to separate between to two teams and the scores were tied at 25-all at the break. The match seemed to heading for an even finish with the scores locked at 58-all, before Raza, who top-scored with 23 points, came up with a last ditch effort shooting the winning basket to seal NBA’s win.
The second semi-final was also an absorbing affair and Fr. Agnel Gymkhana after enjoying a 20-12 half-time lead managed to beat back a strong challenge from Mastan YMCA to clinch a slender 45-44 victory and advance to the final.
In men’s semi-final encounters, Mastan YMCA easily defeated Savio Club 78-57 (half-time: 38-26) and Transpire SC got the better of Central Railway 80-77 (half-time: 37-38) to set up a clash in the summit round.
Results (semi-finals) – Men: Mastan YMCA (Kshaunish Kapoor 16, Shamsher S. 15, Ashraf Siddiqui 18, Sameer Qureshi 17, Salman K. 8) beat Savio Club (Vinayak D. 10, Yash C. 15, Saurabh K. 23, 4×3) 78-57 (half-time: 38-26).
Transpire SC (Ajinkya Mane 11, Yousuf Sayyed 23, Shinde C. 28, Sanket Kalbhor10) beat Central Railway (Melvin M. 13, Raj K. 22, Fardeen K. 17, Kartik C. 10, Lavneet S. 14) 80-77 (half-time: 37-38).
Junior Boys (under-18): Fr. Agnel Gymkhana (Parth K. 13, Aaqib Z. 11, Stefan D. 10) beat Mastan YMCA (Afaiz A. 10, Haziq K. 9, Huzaifa K. 8, Taufiq K. 7, Haris S. 6) 45-44 (Half-time: 20-12).
Nagpada Basketball Association (Raza H. 5 23, (5 bask, 1×3 n winning basket), Faiz A. 13, Adnan K. 12) beat Savio Club (Sanklap P. 21, Aman D. 10, Sailesh C. 12) 60-58 (Half-time: 25-25).