Golden Gate International College (GGIC) stunned Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) 90-85 to finish second in the Kwiks Basketball League on Monday.

In their home match, Rajiv Joshi scored 27 points to end TAC’s 13-match winning streak in the final league game of the double round robin league home and away tournament. The result means, TAC will now host Bishal Milan Kendra (BMK) in the second playoff on March 28 with an eye in the final. BMK ended up in third with 27 points from 14 games.

TAC had already assured themselves a top spot three match prior to the completion of league stages and they finished with 39 points. They will host fourth-placed Himalayan Hounds in the first playoff, also on March 28, at their home court in Army club headquarters in Bhadrakali. GGIC finished their league campaign with 30 points.

Joshi, the national team point guard, also had five assists in the high scoring game that put Binod Maharjan’s heroics in vain. Maharjan scored 15 points, made six assists and took 17 rebounds but his effort was not yet enough for the Armymen to see them through.

GGIC began the day with a 24-17 lead and in a closely-contested second period both teams were tied at 26-26. TAC cut the lead to one point scoring 26 points to that of 20 from the hosts. But GGIC held firm in the final period and took a 20-16 lead in the final quarter to register a morale boosting victory for them.

Bikram Dangol also scored 18 points for GGIC with Binod Shrestha scoring 17 and Anish Shahi Thakuri taking 12 rebounds. For TAC, Sadish Pradhan top scored with 17 points, while Rabin Khatri netted 15 points and made eight assists. In an inconsequential match of the day, Kirtipur Basketball Team signed off from the tournament with a 47-45 victory over South Siders Basketball Club. Sumanga Bogati scored 15 points for Kirtipur in the low scoring tie at their home court.