Seylan Bank edge John Keells by one point

The 28th MSBA League Basketball Tournament 2018 continued at the Henry Pedris and St. Joseph’s College courts, where two Mens’“b” division matches, three Mens’“c” division matches, two Womens’ “B” division matches and one Womens’ “A” division match were worked off.in the Mens’“b” division Seylan Bank turned on their boosters in the second half to edge John Keells by one point (71/70).

Naveen Bandara (29) and Dion Muthukumara (17) played a brilliant game for the bankers while Charith de Silva (21), Kavinga Ratnayake (15) and Dinara Peiris (10) fought tooth and nail for John Keells.

Standard Chartered meanwhile came back strongly in the second half to run away with a 56-47 win over Kanrich Finance, who incidently led 25-20 at half time.

Madusanka Ratnayake (20), Jerrad Fernando (14) and Henry Gunawardena (12) steered the game for SCB while Kanishka Wijesinghe (20) and Meran Perera (12) fought well for Kanrich.

In the Mens’ “C” division, Akbar Brothers scored a thrilling 58-56 win over NDB Bank.

Dimitri Grebe (19), Jeevan Priyankara (11) and Thushara Jayaratne (11) were the shooting stars for Akbar.

In the same division Union Bank scored an impressive 66-55 win over Moulana Travels, after leading 32-24 at half time. Clifford Shenal (19), Kenneth Wickramasinghe (11) and Devon Rebert (11) played a tireless game for the bankers while Lumal Soysa (19) and Insamam Hassim (12) stood out for Moulana.

HSBC held a massive 20-point lead (40/20) at half time went on to win by another 20 points (76-56) over LB Finance.

Hasantha Gunawardena (24), Shehan Perera (15), Promoth Weerasinghe (10) and Praveen Perera (10) were outstanding for the bankers; Gihan Sarinda (18) and Mathew Surain (14) played well for LBF.

In the Womens’ “B” division MAS Holdings trounced Standard Chartered Bank 61/35 after holding a commanding lead at half time. Natali de Silva (15), Taahara Cuttilan (15) and Shimali Lokuge (12) were top scorers for MAS while Ruwani Weerasekera (13) stood out for SCB.

IFS R&D International in a low scoring game beat Virtusa 20-11 after leading 12-04 at the breather.

Harshi Perera (14) who top scored for IFS was named player of the match.

In the Womens’ “A” division, the robust Anjali Ekanayake played an outstanding game for HNB as they beat Seylan Bank, 50-37.

The scorers were dead locked at 14/14 at half time.

Umanga de Zoysa (12) gave good support to Ekanayake while Benika Thalagala (15) stood out for Seylan.