Mustang edges 7 Seas in tight basketball finish

Mustang edged 7 Seas 55–52 in a close battle at the G M Sampath Kumar Trophy, with strong performances from Vinod and Nikhil helping them come from behind to win

Hyderabad: Mustang scored a comeback win over 7 Seas 55–52 after trailing 21–22 at half-time in the Annual League basketball championship for the G M Sampath Kumar Trophy at YMCA Secunderabad here on Friday.

However, both teams qualified from Pool I for the knock-out qualifying phase from Level-III to Level-II.

---

Mustang started well, playing a fast-paced game and, aided by two three-pointers from Vinod and Manny, took a comfortable 13–7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, 7 Seas tightened their defence to restrict Mustang to just eight points, and in turn scored 15 points through Naveen and Vinay to take a one-point lead at 22–21.

After the change of ends, Vinay and Naveen carried on in the same rhythm to score 15 points, but Vinod scored three three-pointers, and aided with drive-in baskets from Akhil, Mustang led 38–37 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Nikhil of Mustang scored as many as 12 of the 17 points scored by his team. 7 Seas tried hard to recover but were unable to stop Akhil in the fourth quarter, as Mustang finally won the match 55–52.

In other matches, Stadium Club beat BHEL Club 56–44 after leading 33–26 at half-time. KVBR beat RVBRR Club 46–35 after leading 33–25.

The scores:
Mustang 55 (Vinod 22, Akhil 18, Manny 7)
bt 7 Seas 52 (Vinay 13, Sai Krishna 10, Naveen 11)

Stadium Club 56 (Rithvik 21, Sidhanth 13, Sai 7, Aryan 8)
bt BHEL Club 44 (Joseph 20, Abhishek 9, Tanish 6, Paritosh 6)

KVBR 46 (Revanth 15, Amshul 15, Pandu 9)
bt RVBRR Club 35 (Wazeer 23, Pranav 8)