Tisco outplay Vijaya Bank for crown

The first quarter of the final was well-fought but Tisco’s clear superiority was bound to tell.

Vijaya Bank started by hustling the Tisco’s outside players and grabbed the initiative with a slender lead. Vijaya Bank’s BS Goutham on Cyril Miranda and Stalin on Shahid Qureshi, did a good job and managed a few turn arounds. At 7:3, Mobin Islauddin was not rebounding adeptly and it was left to Murali Mohan and Stalin to get some easy baskets. The understanding Murali had with his ball-handler, BS Goutham, was splendid. He roamed around the periphery, knocked off his marker, received passes from Goutham and scored easy baskets from closerange.

Vijaya Bank held a five-point lead at the outset but Murali Mohan had already committed two fouls.

A flurry of scoring by Tisco scripted the decisive phase of the game. Tisco scored four baskets in a row — three by Jaldeep Dhaliwal — that helped the Jamshedpur side move from 16-18 to 24-20.

The Tisco machine then started rolling. The rebounds were collected, the tips-in were going in and captain Shahid Qureshi displayed good form as he drove in effortlessly.

Though Tisco kept increasing their lead, there was one last chance for Vijaya Bank when Mobin Islauddin made an exit after five fouls with 7:13 minutes remaining. That was also Tisco’s seventh team foul and Vijaya Bank should have grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

But Murali Mohan missed three out of the four free-throws he got. Murali was the worst culprit as far as conversion of free throws were concerned. They earned 14 and converted just seven, while Tisco earned 22 and drained 13 of those. Also Tisco were very careful in notcommitting any fouls while any Vijaya Bank player was in the process of shooting. Vijaya Bank’s first free-throw came in the second half.

With 5.03 minutes left, Vijaya Bank lost one of their players — Raghupathi Dorai — for committing five fouls. And then, it was the turn of Murali with 2.4 minutes left. After this, Vijaya Bank gave up the fight.

Exhibition tie: Tisco and Vijaya Bank will play an exhibition tie to promote the game at father Agnel Technical Sports Complex, Vashi.

Results (final): Tisco 83 (Shahid Qureshi 25, Jaldeep Dhaliwal 22, N S Rawat 11, Cyril Miranda 17) bt Vijaya Bank 59 (Stalin 21, Murali Mohan 18, B S Goutham 9).

Player of the final: Shahid Qureshi (Tisco).

Most valuable player: B S Goutham (Vijaya Bank).

Best defensive player: Jayshankar Menon (Indian Bank).

Best offensive player: Shahid Qureshi.

Best ball handler: Goutham.