RAIA: In a first for Goan basketball, men’s basketball team shocked the basketball fraternity by beating Mizoram in a closely contested game, remaining unbeaten and topping Pool C in the 73rd National Basketball Championships being held in Ludhiana, Punjab, on Wednesday
Goa will now move into the knock out rounds. It was once again a team effort on offence that enabled Goa to overcome Mizoram 66-56. Aaron Blessen, Shiva U and Akhil Jacob once again worked tirelessly under the boards, rebounding and scoring against a relentless and well drilled Mizoram team. They scored 16, 11 and 8 points respectively.
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But it was once again the star guard duo of Jeshua Pinto 9 points and Mahipal Singh 10 points who kept the score ticking over regularly with timely drives to the basket, and dagger 3 point shots.
Goa has now topped the group and has moved on to play the topper of Group F for the first time in its history.
Things will not get any easier for them, as they will now face a strong Karnataka team, and to make matters even more difficult, center and post player Vivek Goti has suffered a fracture in his hand, Akhil sustained a deep gash below his eye, and Jeshua suffered a sprained ankle in Wednesday’s game.
But the team and coaches have vowed to give their all in the quest to qualify for the next National Games. Unfortunately, the girls team was not able to keep up their winning momentum, losing to Meghalaya 62-28. Sarah Hussain with 11 and Shimei Nathan with 5 points tried their best for the Goa team, which ultimately proved not enough.
