at invitation tournament
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Secunderabad Club dished out a superb performance on way to winning the Secunderabad Club Invitation Basketball tournament coming from behind to turn the tables on Sanathnagar Playground 8574 in a high scoring match which saw Rohan Panicker and Kaushik impressing with their long range shots.
Secunderabad Club squandered a 13 point lead midway through the game as the speedy Sanathnagar forwards led by Nikhil and Shiva attacked relentlessly. With Prudhvi doing a good job in thwarting the Club players from getting to the offensive board. The diminutive Basant Kumar of Sanathnagar added spice to the Sanathnagar attack with his accurate three point shooting. Naveed Khan played his role in defence to a nicety as he kept a constant vigil on Rohan and Aman Mahamood who could not get their shooting together.
However, Kaushik and Vidhura brought about a gradual momentum in the offence of the winners and this was good enough for Rohan and Aman to strike back. The winner managed to reduce the lead to 33-40 at the halftime and on resumption Kaushik started getting his three pointers and Rohan took over from there and took his side to a comfortable position to emerge deserving winners.
The third place was bagged by Secunderabad YMCA who put it across Victory Playground 89-77 with Chris Viresh and Ashu Tyagi being the prominent scorers for YMCA while Naveen and Salman khan did the bulk of scoring for the loser.
Kaushik of Secunderabad Club was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player of the Championship for his excellent performance throughout. THE SCORES Final:
Secunderabd Club 85 (Rohan Panicker 33, Kaushik 20, Aman Mahamood 12) bt Sanathnagar Playground 74 (Nikhil 16 Basanth 15, Shiva 12). Third Place: Secunderabad YMCA 89 (Chris Viresh 18, Ashu Tyagi 21) bt VPG 77 (Naveen 34, Salman Khan 33) Halftime 42-35. ■ (Earlier matches) Group ‘A’:
Secunderabad Club 61 (Aman Mahmood 10, Rohan 8) bt Gymkhana Basketball Club 42 (Kranthi 9, Rajesh 8).
Sanathanagar Playground 45 (Shiva 8, Pruthvi 12) bt Narayanguda YMCA 18 (Gaurav 8). ■ ■