Income-Tax assured of a semi-final berth

JUMP UP HIGH...Chembur YMCA and Bombay YMCA cagers fighting it out for possession in the Savio Invitational tournament at Don Bosco court. ...

JUMP UP HIGH…Chembur YMCA and Bombay YMCA cagers fighting it out for possession in the Savio Invitational tournament at Don Bosco court.

May 27: International Mahesh Naidu and Clarence Menezes helped Income-Tax score a fighting 77-63 win over Indian Navy in a pool B league match in the Pepsi and Killer Jeans-sponsored Savio Invitational basketball tournament at the Don Bosco school court, Matunga here today.

Income-Tax were trailing Navy 27-30 at half time largely due to Navy’s AP Singh getting plently of shots from the rebounds and tip-inns. But the trend started changing from the second half onwards as the Tall Naidu dominated the boards even as Income-Tax stepped up the pace.

Clarence Menezes, the nippy forward, added to Navy’s woes with his steals and quick and long passes which helped Income-Tax score fast breaks and gain ascendency.

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Naidu himself scored 24 points and was declared the player of the match.Navy will now have to defeat Shivaji Nagar Gymkhana, Nagpur to qualify for the semi-finals. Income-Tax have almost assured themselves of a semi-final berth byt winning two matches. They had earlier beaten Central YMCA.

Shivaji Nagar have to play two matches, against Income-Tax and Indian Navy. Last night the Shivaji Nagar-Indian Navy match was abandoned midway through after a power failure had stopped through. Tomorrow, Shivaji Nagar will be playing both their matches.

In Pool A action, Chembur YMCA sent Bombay YMCA crashing out of the running for a semi-final berth by inflicting their second straight defeat in two matches. Chembur won 89-57.

Results (Pool D): Income-Tax 77 (Mahesh Naidu 24, Stephen Rodrigues 22, Clarence Menezes 14) bt Navy 63 (A P Singh 20, D K Mali 10, Jameel 10); Shivaji Nagar Gymkhana (Nagpur) 76 (Pankaj Deshmukh 21, Shatrughana Gokhale 13, Niraj Kale 14) bt Central YMCA 42 (Bob Keeler 15). Pool A: Chembur YMCA 89 (Anish Sanghvi 15, Vijay Neygandhi 18, S Sriram 14) bt Bombay YMCA 57 (Sirajuddin Khan 18).