Prime enter girls final; South Siders roll on

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Prime Sports Club entered the women’s final of the third Morgan Cup 12th Men’s and 11th Women’s National Basketball Championships with a 39-34 victory over Golden Gate Club here at the National Sports Council covered hall today.

In the men’s section, South Siders made it to the semi-finals as Group ‘B’ runners-up, while Golden Gate topped Group ‘A’ in a tensed match against Prime, where they prevailed 93-90.

Golden Gate needed an unlikely 30-point victory margin against Prime to reach the final finishing second in the round robin league but after trailing in the first three quarters the door was already shut for them. In women’s section, Prime finished first in the round-robin league and will play Premier in the championship match.

Prime opened up with an 11-5 lead and extended it to 10 points scoring 11 in second period to that of seven from their opponents. Golden Gate went neck-to-neck in the third quarter but Prime still led 15-14 going into the decider with an 11-point cushion.

Golden Gate managed to prevent Prime from scoring freely in the final period leading 8-2 but by the time a final spot had already slipped away from them. Nayana Shakya scored 13 points for Prime, while Anisha Tulachan netted 11 for Golden Gate.

South Siders, meanwhile, needed a victory to stay alive and they did it with a 86-72 victory over Morgan International College. A 15-point lead in the first quarter laid the foundation for South Siders, for whom Sanjay Byanjankar tossed in a match-winning 32 points.

Morgan led the second quarter 16-9 to reduce the deficit to eight points. Though Morgan made a solid comeback in the third period, their 23-22 lead was not enough to put them ahead in the match. South Siders led the final quarter 30-21 for a comfortable victory. Ayush Singh scored 17 points for the losing side.

In a tensed third match of the day, Sushil Gurung’s 31 points helped Golden Gate go into the last four despite Premier making a bright start with a 20-12 lead. However, once their key man Bipendra Maharjan stepped in, Golden Gate began controlling the match.

Golden Gate scored 32 points in the second period and conceded only 22 that gave them a two-point lead going into the second half. Sushil was instrumental in putting Golden Gate in a strong position in the third quarter netting three three-pointers that gave them a 26-16 lead and an overall 12-point cushion.

Premier fought back after Sushil was injured out with 3:40 minutes to go but Golden Gate held their nerve to register a thrilling victory after leading the final quarter 23-22. Sushil netted a total of seven three-pointers in the match. Sadish Pradhan posted 24 points for Premier.