Panjim YMCA score upset win 2011-02-13[Godwin Fernandes ]Panjim YMCA ended on a winning note at the All-India inter-YMCA basketball tournament upsetting their Hyderabad counterparts 54-50.
Although the win meant little in terms of their progress in the tournament as they have already been eliminated, it came as a huge morale booster for the nascent Panjim side, especially at a time when the standard of game in the state is on the downslide.
Clearly the underdogs going into the match, the Panjim lads led by Francisco D’Souza, who aggregated 14 points, took some time coming to terms with their opponents. They conceded the lead to Hyderabad in the second quarter 5-10 but from then on put up a spirited display outplaying their opponents and snatching leads in all the three subsequent quarters to clinch the match.
Besides Francisco, the Panjim side also saw some valuable contributions from Royston Fernandes (10 points) and Brendon Mascarenhas (9 pts). For the Hyderabad lads, it was Tirupathi (22 points) and Beam Kumar (9 points) who contributed.
Meanwhile, Ernakulum, Vizag, Delhi and Poona made it to the semi finals topping their respective groups at the end of the round robin league. While Ernakulum will play Vizag for slot in the finals, Delhi will take on the young and clinical Poona to give themselves a shot at the title in the second semi final on Sunday morning. The Finals will be played on Sunday evening at 7 pm
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