Titans on a roll, after overcoming YMCA Sec’bad, pull off a 1-point thriller against VPG

Titans are on a roll with two successive victories but it hasn’t been all that easy. Titans had got the better of YMCA Secunderabad 88-82 on Monday night and then returned on Tuesday evening to eke out a narrow one-point win over Victory Playground in what turned out to be an intensely fought game of the semifinal round robin at the 6th Samuel Vasanth Kumar Memorial Basketball Tournament at YMCA Secunderabad.

Titans overcame a fighting Victory Playground 69-68 after trailing 34-35 at the cross over.

For the second successive day Titans had to dig deep into their reserves and with two seconds left for regulation time, they trailed 66-68.   Titans called for a time-out and from an alley loop out of bounds pass Nandit not only scored a basket but also converted the resultant free throw being fouled in the act of shooting to consign VPG to their second defeat in as many matches.

In a see-saw battle between Titans and VPG, the lead changed hands many times and it was the resilience of the Titans, which stood out especially with Surya, Salman and Vignesh scoring from the opportunities that came their way.

After change of ends, VPG stepped up the scoring and led by 10 points before a resurgent Titans clawed back through Nandit and Surya. Bilal and Sriniketh were not to be undone and were scoring with aplomb and with the lanky Shloke controlling the boards VPG were impressive but were unlucky to end up on the losing side.

Titans down a fighting YMCA Secunderabad

On Monday in a late-night match, Titans, in probably the best match of the tournament so far, pulled off a thrilling 88-82 overtime win over YMCA Secunderabad after the scores were locked 75-75 at the end of regulation time.

Titans started well with Vignesh dictating terms with his decisive drive-ins and Nandit dominating the paint area.   YMCA’s Allen and Rakesh were chipping in with timely baskets to keep with touching distance of their rivals as Titans stole the honours in the first 1st quarter with a 22-14 scoreline.

In the next period, both teams matched basket-to-basket to score 15 points apiece as the winners led 37-29 at half time.

After change of ends, Sree Harsha of YMCA’s used his height to dominate the paint to level the scores 37-37. At one point of time, YMCA led 44-42 but it was a short-lived one as Titans’ Salman scored a 3-pointer to wrest back the lead.

Titan’s Nandit along with Surya netted consecutive baskets again to extend their lead, but Rakesh scored two consecutive 3-pointers to bridge the gap as Titans led 58-56 at the end of the third quarter.

A Titans’ hoopster attempts a basket against VPG in the semifinal league of the 6th Samuel Vasanth Kumar Memorial Basketball Tournament at YMCA Secunderabad on Tuesday. Pics: Mohd Hadi

In the final quarter, YMCA bridged the gap further and the match went neck-and-neck. With two minutes left on the clock the scores were 67-67. With 35 seconds left for the game the deadlock continued as the scores were level 72-72.

Titan’s Salman converted a free throw and Nandit scored of an offensive rebound to make it 72-75. With just 8 seconds left for the match, YMCA’s Rakesh scored a 3-pointer to level the scores 75-75 to take the match into extra-time.

In extra-time, Titan’s Surya started with a 3-pointer and went on to add 7 points to his tally to finally win the match in his team’s favour at 88-82.

The tournament is being conducted by Sports Writers Association of Telangana under the technical support of The Hyderabad District Basketball Association.

Results: Titans 69 (Nandit 16, Surya 21, Kunal 10) beat Victory Playground 68 (Bilal 20, Sriniketh 22, Shloke 11).

Monday night’s match: Titans 88 (Surya 23, Nandit 22, Vignesh 21, Salman 13) beat YMCA Secunderabad 82 (Rakesh 31, Sree Harsha 16, Allan 13, Samuel 13).

Follow scores and results of all games here:

https://whatsscore.com/tournament-group/413138/tournaments/413141/view