SA basketball
India set to complete five-peat
Sports Reporter
Bangladeshs high hopes were shattered when they lost to India by 142-71 points in their fourth and final match of the group phase in the 5th South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship in Male yesterday.
The match turned to be lopsided affair when defending champions India came out the gates strong and outscored Bangladesh 36-9 in the very first quarter and posted a rather insurmountable lead.
India centre Amritpal Singh had his third straight game scoring over 20 points, with 22 in this contest. Veteran shooting guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi also joined the party by chipping in with 14 points of his own while controlling the flow of the game.
For Bangladesh, captain Kumar Biswas Mithun led the charge with 25 points and was ably supported by Khan Mohammad Shamsuzzaman with 22 points but the duo lacked support from the rest of the team.
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was declared man of the match.
India now take on Nepal on the final day of the championship to retain the trophy and complete a historic five-peat.
Before losing to India, Bangladesh made a good opportunity to win the trophy by beating Nepal by 76-66 points, Sri Lanka by 90-80 points and the host Maldives by 86-52 points on the trot.
