24th July 2016 - Balewadi Stadium, Pune: Hyderabad Sky failed to avenge yesterday's defeat against Pune Peshwas and the home side showed tremendous team spirit to move into the semifinals as they registered a 101-94 win in the UBA Pro Basketball League on Sunday evening.
Pune Peshwas will face Chennai Slam in the semifinals coming off of their fourth consecutive win where they notched up more than 100 points.
Riding on superb team effort, Pune Peshwas rallied back strongly after falling behind in the first quarter. Narender was the top scorer for the victors with 26 points and Shinde was the player of the match as he came up with another top-class performance.
Hyderabad Sky's Mahesh scored 34 points but his efforts went in vain.
Hyderabad Sky were quick off the blocks as they raced to a 10 point lead going into the first time out with the score reading 15-5.
Hyderabad Sky finished the first quarter leading 22-15 with the Pune Peshwas showing signs of getting their act together.
In the second quarter, the home team turned around the game in style, thanks to Narender's efforts, who pocketed 17 points, ably supported by Shinde and Mane.
Pune Peshwas took the lead for the first time, leading 45-42 at halftime.
The third quarter was a bit of a cagey affair as Pune Peshwas were not able to fully capitalise on the momentum they built in the second quarter.
Mahesh and Thomas were the most active players in this quarter with the latter chipping in with a couple of vital blocks. Pune Peshwas, however, managed to keep their lead intact and finished the quarter 73-68.
The fourth quarter was nicely set up for a thrilling end and both the teams lived up to their billing. Shinde and Mane scored crucial points to ensure that their lead is not overhauled.
With 43 seconds to go, Hyderabad Sky were trailing by six points and they just didn't have enough in the end to make it to the semifinals.
Pune Peshwas scored 12 points from turnovers and 60 points in the paint while Hyderabad Sky had 11 from turnovers and 38 points in the paint.
Pune Peshwas 101 & Hyderabad Sky 94
Pune Peshwas 101 (Narender 26, Mane 24, Shinde 22) & Hyderabad Sky 94(Mahesh 34, Mahipal 20, Joginder 13)
Photo Captions:
Pic 1: Pune Peshwas and Hyderabad Sky in action during the Season 3 of the UBA Pro Basketball League.
Pic 2: Siddhanth Shinde from Pune Peshwas was the player of the 18th Match of the UBA Pro Basketball League Season 3.
Pic 3: Match in progress between Pune Peshwas and Hyderabad Sky at the Balewadi sports complex on Sunday.