Kirtipur Basketball Team crashed to a shock 75-71 defeat at home to lowly Team Budanilkantha Municipality (TBM) as two bottom clubs registered victory in the Kwiks Basketball League on Wednesday. 

The stunning defeat made life difficult for Kirtipur to make it to the playoffs as they now need to win all their remaining three matches of the double round robin league. Kirtipur, fifth in the eight-team points table with 15 points from 11 games, have their games left against relatively stronger opponents in Golden Gate International College (GGIC) and Himalayan Hounds where they cannot drop points.

Hounds are fourth in the table with 21 points from 11 games and one victory will all but guarantee them a spot in the playoffs. GGIC and Bishal Milan Kendra (BMK), who were shocked 69-66 away at South Siders Basketball Club, have 24 points each with their one foot in playoffs. South Siders and TBM have 9 points each and Xavier International College are at the bottom of the table with six points. 

South Siders stay ahead of TBM on better score difference. Runaway leaders Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) have 33 points from 11 matches having all but confirmed the top spot. 

At the Kirtipur basketball court, the hosts were in driving seat for almost throughout the game until Biraj Rana scored two-pointer and converted three free shots to overturn the lead with less than a minute left in the final quarter. Rana was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his 25 points that included three 3-pointers and six turnovers. 

Kirtipur began the day with a 17-14 lead and then stretched it to nine points heading into the second half adding another 19 to that of 13 from TBM. The visitors reduced the deficit to three points after the completion of third quarter leading it 23-17. Kirtipur were still in the driving seat in the final quarter until they lost the momentum in the last two and half minutes. 

Pushpa Raut rolled in six 3-pointers in his 20 points. Utsav Chand netted 13 points for Kirtipur, while Saugaat Deep Singh had nine rebounds. 

In another shock result of the day, South Siders rode on a tournament-high 38 points from Rabin Gautam to edge BMK condemning the third-placed team to their second consecutive defeat. South Siders took a 23-11 to lay the foundation for victory. BMK cut the gap to eight points and remained in hunt for win with a slim 12-11 lead in the third quarter heading into the decider with a seven-point deficit. 

BMK did manage to take the third quarter 21-17 but their effort was not yet enough. Gautam had four 3-pointers in his game, while Minesh Shakya sunk in four 3-pointers in his 19 points and followed it with seven turnovers. Bikash Gurung netted 20 points for BMK and took seven rebounds but it was Sandesh Tamang who had an all round game with 15 points, five assists, five rebounds, six steals and six turnovers.

Hounds, who have a crucial match left against Kirtipur, will hosts TBM in their 13th league game at the Shankar Dev basketball court on Thursday.

Standings

Teams P W L DIFF PTS

Army 11 11 0 257 33

GGIC 12 8 4 109 24

BMK 12 8 4 36 24

Hounds 12 7 5 -29 21

Kirtipur 11 5 6 -78 15

Siders 11 3 8 -49 9

TBM 13 3 10 -121 9

Xavier 12 2 10 -121 6