Host YMCA Secunderabad beats St Francis Boys 66-47

YMCA Secunderabad defeated St. Francis Boys 66-47 to reach the semi-finals of the BM John Vinayasager Basketball Tournament. Nizam Basketball Academy beat Freestyle Ballers 73-53, while Titans overcame KVBR 48-31 to join the semi-final line-up

Hyderabad: Host YMCA Secunderabad, after a scare in the first quarter, recovered in time to score a hard-fought 66-47 win over St. Francis Boys. They led 31-26 at half time to set up a semi-final with Nizam Basketball Academy, who trounced Freestyle Ballers 73-53 after leading 37-25 at half time.

In another quarterfinal, Titans brushed aside the challenge of KVBR 48-31 to enter the semi-finals of the BM John Vinayasager Basketball Tournament being conducted by YMCA Secunderabad Alumni at YMCA Secunderabad here on Thursday.

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Host YMCA Secunderabad began with a shaky start as they missed too many baskets at the beginning. However, Nathan and Rakesh brought some semblance, scoring 11 points. St. Francis Boys capitalised with Shoaib and Ajaz combining well to score 12 points, taking the first quarter 12-11.

In the second quarter, YMCA Secunderabad tightened their defence to restrict St. Francis Boys to just 14 points and scored 20 points, with Nathan doing the bulk of the scoring. YMCA regained their lead and were placed 31-26 at half time.

After the change of ends, both teams matched basket to basket. St. Francis Boys scored 19 points; however, Nathan sank two 3-pointers to score 23 points as YMCA Secunderabad led 54-45.

In the last quarter, YMCA Secunderabad further tightened their defence to restrict St. Francis Boys to just 2 points and scored 12 points to finally win the match 66-47.

The scores:
Quarterfinals: YMCA Secunderabad 66 (Nathan 25, Ashish 15, Rakesh 10) bt St. Francis Boys 47 (Shoaib 13, Ajaz 12)
Nizam Basketball Academy 73 (Charan 18, Balaji 13, Kaushik 13, Aravind 13, Majid 10) bt Freestyle Ballers 53 (Lakshay 18, Vishal 14, Sanjay 11)
Titans 48 (Vignesh 10, Kushal 10) bt KVBR 31 (Amshul 12)