The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : No stopping Vijaya Bank

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Sunday, Oct 30, 2005

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Sport - Basketball

No stopping Vijaya Bank

Sports Reporter

BANGALORE: Vijaya Bank maintained its unbeaten run in the Association Cup basketball tournament, beating Madras Engineering Group (MEG) 60-57 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium indoor courts here on Saturday.

Holder Sports Hostel (Mysore) came out of a sluggish start to outscore Indiranagar BC (IBBC) 48-33 to ensure its firm grip on the women's trophy.

The Mysore team trailed 20-26 at half time.

Thangachan, the MEG coach-cum-captain, was forced to play the match and came up with three pointers on the trot.

But the ageing Thangachan was left with little time.

If he had stepped in, in the second quarter, and got in a few shots, the final scoreline could have been different.

With Ronnie and Roshan setting the tempo, the bankmen took a handy lead in the first two quarters.

But Tinu Joseph and playmaker Manikandan recovered well in the third quarter to narrow the lead to 32-42 going into the final ten minutes.

It was the exit of an off-colour Sweeto Francis that brought Thangachan in, and he almost pulled it off with a spate of long rangers.

But again it was his foul on Murli Mohan that gave Vijay Bank a chance to widen the lead with 53 seconds remaining (59-54).

The results:

Men (Semifinal league: (For first place): Vijaya Bank 60 (Srinivasa Gowda 21, Basavaraj M 11, Murli Mohan 11) bt MEG 57 (Tinu Joseph 14, Manikandan 10).

For third place: HAL 69 (Umashankar 25, Rajkumar 13, Yasin 12) bt JSC 34 (Anil Babu 10, Kaushal 10).

Women: For first place: Sports Hostel (Mysore) 48 (Smitha K 17, Chandrakala 12, Rajeshwari 12) bt IBBC 33.

For third place: JSC 41 (Sruthi 10, Harshitha 10) bt Viveks SC 39 (Reeth 12, Chaitra 10, Priya 10).

Final standings:

Men: 1. Vijaya Bank, 2. MEG, 3. HAL, 4. JSC.

Women: 1. Sports Hostel (Mysore), 2. IBBC, 3. JSC, 4. Viveks SC.

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