Golden Phoenixes continued with their golden run as they scored an emphatic 83-67 win over Saints even as the Level-II competitions kicked off in the GM Sampath Kumar Annual League Basketball Championship at the YMCA Secunderabad on Friday. Golden Phoenixes led the Saints 32-24 at half-time.
In a keenly contested match, there was not much of a difference between both the teams. However, Golden Phoenixes kept their noses ahead right through the match.
David, captain of Golden Phoenixes, started with a brace and with Khadeer and Kanthu contributing well, the Phoenixes scored 16 points. Saints, though, were not far behind with Steven chipping in with two baskets through drive-in and two 3-Points shots from the perimeter. Golden Phoenixes took a 3-point 16-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.
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Golden Phoenixes continued in the same rhythm to again score 16 points and restricted Saints to 11 points and thereby, went into the break with the score reading 32-24.
Golden Phoenixes hold the aces
After change of ends in a high scoring third quarter, Aijaz of Saints grabbed centre stage. He used his height to good effect scoring 12 points from the paint. Mani and Steven contributed four points apiece to score 20 points. However, Golden Phoenixes’ Kanthu was just unstoppable and his combination with Sammy yielded a massive 25 points for the side. Phoenixes took a comfortable 57-44 lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, playing a fast-paced game, Saints tried hard for a comeback, but Golden Phoenixes were chipping in with baskets at regular interval to thwart the opposition. They won the match 83-67.
The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each in Level-II. The top four teams from Level-II will qualify for Level-I where they join the top 12 teams from last year to play the Level-I League-cum-Knockout matches to decide this year’s champion.
Results: Golden Phoenixes 83 (Kanthu 22; David 17; Anil 10; Sammy 12) beat Saints 67 (Steven 19; Aijaz 18; Bhanu 12) Half-time: 32-24.
