Mahendra Hills beat SBI, St Francis overcome BITS in basketball league

Mahendra Hills Basketball Club and St Francis Boys secured the final Level I berths in the GM Sampath Kumar Annual League Basketball Championship with victories over SBI Hyderabad and BITS Hyderabad, respectively, at YMCA Secunderabad on Thursday

Hyderabad: Mahendra Hills Basketball Club and St Francis Boys secured the last two slots in Level I with comfortable wins over State Bank of India, Hyderabad (72-57) and BITS, Hyderabad (55-43), respectively, in the GM Sampath Kumar Annual League Basketball Championship at YMCA, Secunderabad, here on Thursday.

Mahendra Hills dominated from the start and were not bogged down by their experienced opponents. With tight defence, Mahendra Hills restricted SBI to just nine points, mostly through Sukumar, while executing a flawless offence to score 21 points through Tanay, Daniel and Tagore and take the first quarter 21-9.

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In the second quarter, the experienced SBI staged a comeback, scoring 24 points. Sam was unstoppable, scoring 18 points during the quarter. However, a late surge by Tanay and Daniel’s three-pointer enabled Mahendra Hills to score 17 points, giving them a 38-33 lead at half-time.

After the change of ends, Mahendra Hills regrouped. In an equally contested third quarter, SBI scored 11 points, while Mahendra Hills added 15 to increase their lead to nine points at 53-44.

In the final quarter, Sam and Sudheer tried hard to stage a turnaround. However, Daniel and Tanay chipped in with baskets at regular intervals to maintain the lead and secure a 72-57 victory.

The scores:

Mahendra Hills BC 72 (Samuel 29, Sudheer 15) beat SBI Hyderabad 57 (Daniel 22, Tagore 11).

St Francis Boys 55 (Peter 25, Nitish 11) beat BITS Hyderabad 43 (Sharan 17, Saket 13