Both the sides relied heavily on their muscle right from the start but HASC held the advantage initially, thanks to their agile forwards. With two Africans — Kevin and Ba Ibrahim, both from Ethiopia  — in their starting line-up HASC looked sharp but MEG countered them with their ball handler Lloyd Anthony (17) doing well.

MEG’s three-two formation in the defence also worked wonders. HASC had their hands tied down by the opposing defence and to add salt to their wounds Anthony scored almost at will to give MEG a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

HASC brought Kevin back after a brief break in the second quarter and their ploy bore fruit as he quickly got into the act and put the MEG defence under pressure with quick drives and accurate passes. However, Sirajauddin (10) found his groove and helped MEG to a 28-17 lead at half-time.

In the third quarter, HASC showed signs of a comeback with a string of baskets but MEG were relentless as ever. Swetto Francis, who played the passing game in the first two quarters, came into his own. He drove deep into the HASC fort and gave his side a 38-25 lead.

MEG coach M Venu brought in young forwards in the final quarter and to his surprise the green horns shone bright. Lloyd remained on court and before HASC realised it, they were out of the contest.

Defending champions Vijaya Bank defeated Ambedkar Sports Club 66-40. Srinivas Naik (14) and Deva Kumar (16) were the leading scorers for the Bankmen.

Results: JSC: 63 (Anil Babu 11, R Kaushal 21) bt CMP: 53 ( N Rajan 14, Kabelan 10). HT: 22-29. Vijaya Bank: 66 (Srinivas Naik 14, Deva Kumar 16) bt Ambedkar Sports Club: 40 (Kumar 13, Chandy 10). HT: 40-21; MEG: 50 (Lyold Anthony 17, Sirajaudduin 10. Swetto F 10) bt HAL Sports Club: 25 (Kevin 5, Sachindra 5). HT-28-17; KSP: 85 (Ramakrishna 22, Mahesh 18) bt Sports Hostel: 64 (MR Varun 22, Jayraj 22). HT: 42-37; ASC: 72 (Jayarangan 16, Belliappan 12) bt Young Orions: 49 (Siddarth 12, Abishek 8). HT: 39-29.