Vishesh Bhrugavanshi exerted his influence in the third and fourth quarter to guide Oil & Natural Gas Commission (Uttarakhand) to a 75-58 win over Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai) in enthralling men’s Pool A action at the 28th Federation Cup Basketball Championships, conducted at YMCA International Centre.
The thrills came to the fore as the arch rivals clashed on the second day in the league phase. IOB drew level at 43-43 in the third quarter, grabbed lead for some time before the ONGC playmaker opted to step on the heat, helping his team gain a narrow 57-53 lead.
He was in full flow towards the closing stages, managing a game high 20 points besides setting up teammates Amritpal Singh (16), Trideep Rai (15).
“Our defensive game worked and so could keep a powerful team like IOB in check,” said the India star, whose sense of space and elegant drive-ins drew applause.
IOB fought hard through Amjyot Singh (17), K. Prasanna (13) and Pratham Singh (12), especially in the thrilling third quarter but ended second best.
Both defending champion ONGC and runner-up IOB have won two matches each so far. Northern Frontier Railway overcame nervous moments in the opener against the former to bounce back into reckoning from Pool A with a 84-63 win over Bhilai Steel Plant.
Border Security Force (Punjab) surprised Army Red (Services) 80-70 in men’s Pool B, surging to a 22-10 lead in the first quarter and surviving the Army recovery over the reminder of the game.
K. Vinod excelled with 31 points, Gurvinder Singh lending timely support with 13.
The results:
League: Men: Northern Frontier Railway 84 (S. Jaskaran 16, S. Vinod 15) b Bhilai Steel Plant 63 (S. Kiranpal 16, Ajay Pratap Singh 15).
Sikar District (Rajasthan) 79 (S. Hirendra 28, S. Prashant 22) bt Central Excise (Kerala) 64 (M. Bony 21, T. Abhilash 15).
ONGC 75 (Vishesh Brighuvanshi 20, Amritpal Singh 16, Trideep Rai 15) bt IOB 58 (Amjyot Singh 17, K. Prasanna 13, Pratham Singh 12).
ONGC 76 (S. Amritpal 20, Trideep Rai 16, Vishesh Brighuvanshi 11) bt Northern Frontier Railways 52 (M. Prakash 18, S. Jaskaran 11).
IOB 83 (K. Aravindh 22, K. Prasanna 20, G. Sivabalan 16) bt Bhavnagar District 41 (S. Dishant S 16, Indravijaysingh K 11).
Border Security Force (Punjab) 80 (K. Vinod 31, Gurvinder Singh 13, M.K. Mishra 10) bt Army Red (Services) 70 (Anthony Nixon 20, Sambhaji Kadam 8).
Women: Chhattisgarh 90 (L. Anju 19, Kavita 16, E. Anjana Daisy 12) bt Punjab 54 (Nagma 16); Southern Railways 88 (M. Appoorva 16, Raja Priya Darshini 15) bt Gujarat 34 (P. Dhara 12); Delhi 74 (K. Madhu 34, S. Shivangi 18, J. Neha 12) bt Karnataka 37 (P. Navaneetha 10, M. Aishwarya 10).
