Nepal Basketball League Playoffs: Times beat Army to level series, Police through to next round

The second day of the playoffs of the Nepal Basketball League 2019 saw Times International Club beat Nepal Army Club 81-57 to level the series (1-1) in the best of three series and remain in the hunt for the place in the final of the Nepal Basketball League 2019 here at Kathmandu, Nepal.

Wounded by the match 1 defeat against Army in the playoff series, Times International Club bounced back by thrashing their title rivals Nepal Army. Times were superior team throughout the match as they took all four quarters 18-13, 22-14, 20-12 and 21-18 respectively to win the match by a comfortable margin of 24 points with a final score of 81-57.

Sri Lankan import Praneeth Udumalagala dropped 21 points and provided 7 assists for Times. He also collected 7 rebounds and made 2 blocks to help his club level the series. He was declared Man of the Match.

The series is now tied at 1-1 with the last match left to play. The winner of the last match will advance to the final of the Nepal Basketball League 2019 and the loser of the series will face Nepal Police Club to remain in the hunt for the place in final.

Nepal Police beat Golden Gate to win series and advance to next round

Nepal Police Club outplayed defending champions Golden Gate International Club 90-65 to win the series 2-0 and advance to the next round and is in the hunt for a place in the final.

Golden Gate took the first quarter 21-13 while Police took the second quarter 24-9. Going to the half-time break, Police was leading by 7 points. After the break, Police came out strong to win the third quarter 33-8 and take the match beyond the defending champions’ reach with last quarter left to play. Although Golden Gate took the last quarter 27-20, they could not avoid the defeat.

Bikash Gurung (L) of Nepal Police Club was declared Man of the Match for second match in a row

Bikash Gurung of Nepal Police Club was declared Man of the Match. He netted 24 points, collected 8 rebounds, provided 2 assists, and made 2 steals to help his team advance to the next round.

Nepal Police Club will now take on the losing team of the first playoff series (Times International Club vs Nepal Army Club) to hunt for a place in the final of the Nepal Basketball League 2019.

The final of the Nepal Basketball League 2019 will be held on June 22, 2019.