All-India basketball tournament: No stopping ONGC

STAR PERFORMER: ONGC's Trideep Rai is all set to basket even as Indian Navy defender Ashok Kumar tries in vain to block him. Photo: K. Ananthan

ONGC (Dehradun), packed with international stars, drubbed a young Indian Navy outfit from Lonawala 94-72 in a men’s league clash of the 49th all-India basketball tournament for the PSG Trophy on Monday.

The Dehradun men jelled well in the first quarter.

Indian Navy, on the other hand, was a team full of junior national players. But it still pressed hard and kept itself within striking distance at the end of the first break.

The second quarter clearly belonged to ONGC. Trideep Rai (34 points), Riyazuddin (19) and S. Sridhar, its captain, toyed with the Navy defence and enhanced the lead margin by 29 points (76-47).

ONGC rotated its bench strength, and the points dropped a bit. The team managed just 10 points in the space of five minutes, while Indian Navy shot in 15. ONGC struck back strongly to notch up its second straight win.

The results: Men: ONGC (Dehradun) 94 (Trideep Rai 34, Riyazuddin 19, R. Murali Krishna 16) bt Indian Navy (Lonawala) 72 (Saurabh 20, Mandeep 15, Bibin 12); Cochin Customs 66 (Basil Philip 23, Monish 14, Periera 13) bt Indian Army 60 (Soumya Ranjan 16, Navneet 12, Ramesh 10).

Women: Southern Railway (Chennai) 67 (Geethu Anna Jose 24, Neena 12, Anita 10) bt South Central Railway 37 (M. Gayathri 13); Western Railway 62 (Lincy 17, Anamika 14, M. Sona 12) bt Kerala Police 50 (Agnes 15, Asha 10); South East Central Railway 64 (M. Pushpa 22, Aakansha 13, L. Deepa 13) bt South Western Railway 42 (K. Smitha 17); Southern Railway 54 (Anitha 15, Neena 15) bt KSEB 26.