Bengaluru Beast dominated the game to beat defending champions Delhi Capitals 97-90 in the UBA Pro Basketball League Season-3 at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Sunday.
Having lost the first game to Punjab Steelers, it looked like Delhi were out with a vengeance. Delhi took control of the game initially, at the beginning of the first quarter. Most of the points in the first quarters were in ones or twos, while hardly any attempts for three-pointers were made.
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Ajay Pratap made the most of Delhi with 8 points, while Bengaluru were trying hard to level. Banking on the two-pointers Delhi were leading 32-24 in the first quarter.
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Delhi were dominating once again in the second quarter, courtesy their counter attack. Sunil and Smithin struck in quick successions, while they never gave a chance to Bengaluru to equalize or lead. At the end of Q2, Delhi were comfortably leading 51-47.
Bengaluru, finally found their character in the third quarter. They kept their guard and made fewer fouls. Khushmeet Singh scored a couple of three pointers which also included some importance blocks which again put Bengaluru in the driving seat. Three, three-pointers by Narendra and Kaushik upped the game for Delhi, as they manoeuvring through Bengaluru’s defense. Nonetheless, Bengaluru still had the grip on the game as they led 76-72 by the end of third quarter.
Delhi somehow managed to comeback in the game in the fourth quarter but things did not work out for them as they lost 97-90.
Defending Champions coach Mukesh Bishnoi was quite upset with the referee’s decision which he thought affected the score. “We were not awarded a couple of free throws which I think costed us the match. I won’t lie, the team’s confidence is a little low, but we will surely bounce back,” assures Mukesh.
Bengaluru on the other hand, now are high on confidence. Khushmeet outperformed in today’s match with important blocks and 24 points which earned him the player of the match. While speaking to Sportskeeda after the match, a happy Khushmeet informs, “Having lost the first match, we changed our strategy. That helped us a lot.”
Khushmeet, who usually plays a point guard was now playing as a shooting guard which turned the match in their favour.
“We were in a do-or-die situation. The team is very happy now. I am really elated with the way I performed today.” Bengaluru now takes on Pune on Friday while Delhi takes on Haryana on Wednesday.
Result: Bengaluru Beast: (Khushmeet 24pts, Visu 19pts) bt Delhi Capitals (Kaushik 21pts, Sunil 14pts, Smithin 15pts) (24-32, 47-51, 76-72, 97-90)
