Sports
Army pull off sensational win to stun defending champions Golden Gate, climb to top of the table
The departmental outfit+s raise their game in last six minutes to overcome nine-point deficitTribhuvan Army Club pulled of a sensational victory raising their tempo in last six and half minutes in a stunning 75-61 victory over defending champions Golden Gate International Club to once again go into the top of the Nepal Basketball League on Tuesday.
Army skipper Robin Khatri returned from his three-match disciplinary ban and scored 16 points but it was Ashish Basnet who made the impact with crucial eight points in the last quarter to hand his side an important victory. With 7:06 minutes remaining, a three-pointer from Bikram Dangol made it 59-50 for Golden Gate before Army hit back.
After two-pointers from Ayush Singh and Khatri made it 59-56, Army turned the game around when Basnet drew a foul in a two that was counted with less than five minutes remaining. Basnet did miss the free-throw but Ram Krishna Ghatane took the rebound and scored as Army led 60-59. Basnet scored another six points and Khatri netted four as Army virtually threw Golden Gate out of the contest leading 70-59 with 1:20
remaining.
Yogesh Kanderi scored the only two points for Golden Gate in the last seven minutes of the final quarter. Ayush Singh scored five in the last one minute for Army. The departmental team were on top of their game in the first quarter building a 19-8 lead with 1:20 remaining. They headed into the second quarter with seven-point (19-12) cushion.
With two minutes gone in the second quarter, Golden Gate took lead for the first time in the game through a two from Dangol. The game was evenly poised before Golden Gate built a nine-point lead only to throw it away with turnovers in the final quarter. Golden Gate took the second quarter 26-19 to tie the game at 38 all.
They build a slim two-point lead heading into the decider where Army were at their best scoring 25 points. The holders scored just nine. Man-of-the-match Singh scored 13 points for Army along with eight rebounds, two assists and three steals. Basnet netted a total of 14 points, while Ghatane also contributed 14 points.
Kanderia rolled in 20 points for Golden Gate who were without two of their regulars Bipendra Maharjan and Rajiv Joshi. Dangol rolled in 17. Army now lead the standings with 19 points from 10 games and Times, who have match in hand, have 18 points. Golden Gate stay third with 15 points from 10 matches.
Later in the day, Nepal Police Club registered their fourth victory winning 74-63 away to South Siders Basketball Club at the St Xavier’s College. Police, who are bolstered by three Bangladesh national team trio, have 12 points from eight games. South Siders have lost their eighth match and are seemingly heading towards a certain elimination.
It was South Siders who were in the upper hand in the match, as they have usually done almost throughout their campaign, with a 19-18 lead in the first quarter. Police gained a slight momentum in the second quarter and established a five-point lead after scoring 16 and stopping Siders on 10. The lead stretched to eight points after NPC led the third quarter 18-15.
The victory was finally sealed when NPC led the final quarter 22-19. Jasang Sunwar top scored for NPC with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Standings
Played Won Loss Pts
Army 10 9 1 19
Times 9 9 0 18
Golden Gate 10 5 5 15
Budhanilkantha 10 5 6 14
Police 8 4 4 12
Kirtipur 8 2 6 10
Royal 8 2 6 10
South Siders 9 1 8 10