With nine wins out of nine matches, the Sappers finished with 18 points after winning a forgettable match against Vijaya Bank, during the course of which 37 free throws were squandered by the teams. Army Service Corps settled for the second spot with 16 points while Vijaya Bank languished in third with 14.
Both Vijaya Bank an d MEG seemed to have a problem with the dimensions of the ball as the players struggled to keep it in possession for longer than a few dribbles. Coach Rajkumar started the game with four of his biggest men -- Basavaraj, Roshan, Sanjay Raj and the ever-classy Murali Mohan -- to try and capitalise on MEG’s lack of towering centres.
Vijaya Bank jumped to an 18-15 lead initially but the teams repeated their mindless running between ends in the second quarter. Thanks to a couple of good moves from Basavaraj, Vijaya Bank extended their lead to 33-22 at half-time. Upon resumption, MEG’s Jijin Joseph and Amal James gave the Sappers some strength on the back court and narrowed the deficit to 36-43 at the end of the third quarter.
MEG’s Jijin continued to hound Vijaya Bank’s defence en route to levelling scores at 45 apiece with seven minutes and nine seconds remaining. The score fluctuated for a while but in the end it was down to a single possession play with 21 seconds on the clock and MEG ahead by eight points. Vijaya Bank’s attempt to retain the crown came to an end as the clock winded down, slowly but surely.
Results (all finals): ‘A’ Division: MEG: 61 ( Jijin Joseph 18, Amal james 16, Tinu Joseph 12) bt Vijaya Bank: 55 (Murali 17, Srinivas Naik 13, Basavaraj 10). HT 22-33. Standings: MEG (18) 1; ASC (16) 2; Vijaya Bank (14) . ‘B’ Division: CMP: 50 (Vinay Kumar 16, Nesaraja 10) bt Koramangala: 34 (Marc 8). HT: 30-11.
‘C’ Division: Bharath SU: 36 (Adeel 9) bt KS Hegde, M’lore: 34 (Dhiraj Shetty 12). HT: 15-17.
