Basketball
YMCA Secunderabad down Titans 90-69 to win BM John Vinayasager basketball tourney
YMCA Secunderabad, who had finished third in the 6th Samuel Vasanth Kumar Memorial Basketball Tournament in February, made amends in the BM John Vinayasager Basketball Tournament on Saturday. The hosts pulled off a hard-earned 90-69 victory over Titans in the finals at the YMCA Secunderabad courts.
It was a match which befitted a final as the teams went neck-and-neck in the first half of the game. At half-time there was not much to separate the teams, but YMCA went into the break with a psychological two-point lead (38-36).
Titans tame Sanathnagar PG to win 6th Samuel Vasanth Kumar Memorial Basketball
The match began with both teams displaying their skill sets and trying to dominate the other.
Titans used their agility and fast counters to score rapidly. Vignesh and Surya drove in the fast break situations while Nandit used his height to good effect and scored from the paint. On the other hand, YMCA Secunderabad used long range shooting and occasional drive in to garner points. Ashish, Samuel and Nathan combined well and tanked four 3-pointers as both teams were locked 20-20 at the end of the first quarter.
YMCA Secunderabad hoopsters receiving the trophy from BM John Vinayasager at YMCA Secunderabad on Saturday
The second quarter too followed a similar pattern with Titan’s Chris and Kushal getting their names on the score board. Titans scored 16 points in the second quarters. However, YMCA’s Nathan dominated the second quarter by scoring half the points his team got. He had two three-pointers to boot. Aided by Harsha’s jump shots from the paint and a 3-pointer from Rakesh YMCA scored 18 points and went into the break 38-36.
YMCA Secunderabad dominate second half
After change of ends, there was a complete transformation in the game. YMCA Secunderabad tightened their defense and restricted Titans to just 11 points with Vignesh getting 8 of those points. Titans also suffered a setback as Nandit got injured and was relegated to the bench for a few minutes. This hampered Titans defense as well as defensive rebounding. YMCA Secunderabad were smart enough to grab the opportunity and played a fast-paced game. Samuel, Nathan and Harsha combined well to score 25 points to take a decisive 63-47 lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the intensely contested fourth quarter, Vignesh and Surya combined well to score 18 points between them. With two consecutive 3-pointers from Surya, Titans tried hard to stage a comeback. They scored 22 points in the final quarter but the lead was too big to bridge. On the other hand, YMCA’s Nathan, Samuel and Rakesh were chipping in with timely baskets as they scored 24 points to maintain the lead and finally won the match 90-69.
The Tournament was conducted by YMCA Secunderabad Alumni in honour of B M John Vinayasager, a former international hoopster who had a decorative career in basketball.
Result (final): YMCA Secunderabad 90 (Nathan 27, Samuel 18, Ashish 11, Rakesh 17, Harsha 11) beat Titans 69 (Vignesh 23, Surya 19, Nandit 15) Half-time 38-36.