Vijaya Bank warmed up for the bigger challenges ahead with a confidence-boosting 93-36 win over Sports Hostel, Bangalore, in the men’s ‘A’ Division basketball league championship for the Prof NC Parappa Memorial Trophy at the Sree Kanteerava outdoor courts here on Friday.

The bankmen were never threatened at any stage of a match they pocketed pretty easily.

The hostelers struggled to cope with the quality of shooting shown by their rivals, particularly Deva Kumar and Srinivas Gowda. Deva, who scored a match-high 29 points, and Gowda, who accounted for 14 points, were the key men behind Vijaya Bank’s thumping victory.

Better team
Sports Hostel, a far better team on paper, looked totally out of sorts. Their lone bright moments came through a couple of three-pointers by Varun MR, who came up with 11 points, and Varun AR. Vijaya Bank eased their way to a 19-point cushion at 43-24 at half time.

Sanjay Raj then joined Deva and Gowda in the third quarter, as the threesome from Vijaya Bank toyed with the meek Hostel defence. The match followed the same pattern in the fourth quarter too as the last year’s runners-up emerged clear winners.

Matches postponed
Meanwhile, the organisers said three matches involving defending champions Madras Engineer Group and Centre to be played this weekend had been indefinitely postponed after a request from the Sappers. It is learnt that a majority of the MEG players are on leave and out of station.

There was more headache for the organisers as rains forced the postponement of the HAL-Young Orions and ASC-KSP ties.

Results: Vijaya Bank: 93 (Deva Kumar 29, Srinivas Gowda 14) bt Sports Hostel, Bangalore: 36 (Varun MR 11). HT: 43-24. JSC: 71 (Kaushal 37) bt BEML: 58 (Ravichandran 17, Sanjay 15, Ramakanth 14). HT: 37-33.