ONGC power past Karnataka

Tournament favourites ONGC shrugged off their disappointing start to the competition, with a 77-41 drubbing of Karnataka on day two of their ‘Pool A’ match in the second edition of the Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All-India Basketball tournament at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium indoor courts here on Thursday.

ONGC, who had lost their opening match to Income Tax, galloped to a 28-12 lead at the end of the first quarter courtesy of relentless fast breaks. By half-time, the visitors had a commanding lead of 48-18. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Trideep Rai collected 19 points each with notable contributions from Riyazuddin (14) and Anoop M (11). Karan Joshua top scored for Karnataka with 15 points.

In a Pool ‘B’ encounter, centre Aravind Arumugam and point guard Rajesh Uppar shone for Vijaya Bank in their convincing 78-50 win over Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
Meanwhile, Income Tax Chennai defeated Punjab (71-63) in a close contest to cement their position on the top of Pool ‘A’.

Results: Pool ‘A’: ONGC: 77 (Trideep Rai 19 points, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 19, Riyazuddin 14, Anoop M 11) bt Karnataka State Electricity Board (Karan Joshua 15) A: Income Tax, Chennai: 71 (Rikin Pethani 24, Ramkumar 16, MA Raghuram 16) bt Punjab: 63 (Bijendra Kumar 23, Harmandeep Singh 19).

Pool ‘B’: Vijaya Bank: 78: (Arvind Arumugam 23, Rajesh Uppar 12) bt Kerala State Electricity Board (Albin Baby 15, Tony K Mathew 14);

On Wednesday: Pool ‘A’: Income Tax Chennai (Ravi Kumar 16, Akilan 15) bt ONGC Dehradun (Trideep Rai 20, Yadwinder Singh 11); Punjab: 72 (Bijender Kumar 20, Harmandeep Singh 13) bt Karnataka: 56 (Basavaraju 11, Yashas Ramesh 8).
Pool ‘B’: Kerala State Electricity Board: 84 (K Padmaprakash 14, C Srinivisan 8) bt Integral Coach Factory, Chennai: 54 (Anoop D 27, Tony KM 24).