Tisco snuff out IB challenge

Indian Bank once again played with a set mind. That was their undoing today. They were lethargic and particularly so in offence. Mis-passes allowed Tisco recover after scoring easy baskets. With tall players, Mobin Islauddin, N S Rawat and Jaldeep Dhaliwal in their ranks, it was easy for Tisco to gain a 10-point lead early on.

For Indian Bank, S V Sunny was the key player. His speed and ability to break in should have given a good conversion rate in the offence. But he was well blocked out and frustrated.

Also, there were hardly any fast-break opportunities for Sunny to utilise his speed.

Tiscowere served well by Man-of-the-Match Rawat. The 68242; 68221; player, who likes to perform quietly, did most of the scoring initially. Tisco were also helped in good measure by the 68217;98221; Dhaliwal, who top-scored with 35 points.

Even when Tisco, through their improved dominance, kept building their lead, Indian Bank never did try and break that pattern.

It was only in the second half that the Chennai side, largely due to international Jayashankar Menon8217;s efforts that they tried to hustle Tisco. From 50-74 down, Indian Bank narrowed the gap to 60-74 but with 5.19 minutes left, Menon fouled out and Indian Bank8217;s challenge ended.

The second semifinal was a low-scoring affair. Vijaya Bank trailed Madras Customs for most of the first half but once they caught up there was nothing the latter could have done to reverse the trend.

Customs8217; ploy of crowding out the defensive board worked well. There a few turn-around for them as a result. Satish Kumar and Devanathan fetched them a 10-point lead but Vijaya Bank slowlyworked themselves into the game. They passed the ball around and used Murli Mohan as a dummy to set up Stalin to score.

Then there was BS Goutham, their ball handler, who top-scored with 23 points. Goutham was named man of the match.

RESULTS semi-finals

Tisco 99 Jaldeep Dhaliwal 33, NS Rawat 28, Shahid Quereshi 15, Mobin Islauddin 15 bt Indian Bank 68 Jayshankar Menon 11, CV Sunny 12; Vijaya Bank 63 BS Goutham 23, Stalin 15, Murali Mohan 12 bt Madras Customs 55 Satish Kumar 16, PL Devanathan 10