Semis line-up decided in Asif Memorial Basketball

RAWALPINDI: Thunder will take on Bulls and Wah Reapers will play Raptors in the semi-finals of the 2nd Asif Iqbal Memorial Basketball Championship 2019, says a press release.

All the semi-finalists registered comfortable victories in the last-eight stage here at the Racecourse basketball courts.

In the first quarter-final, Thunder defeated Cardinals 52-34.

After taking a commanding 24-13 lead at the halfway stage, Thunder continued to put their opponents under pressure after the break. Cardinals, on the other hand, tried their best to make a fightback but their efforts were not enough.

Sufiyan led the Thunder scorers with a contribution of 18 points. Shahid and Saad also had a good game for their 14 and eight points, respectively. Mohammad Mursalin (12) was Cardinals’ best player while Shahbaz Qasim (9) and Haider Waheed (8) also played well.

Wah Reapers advanced to the semi-finals with a 49-39 victory over Sonics.

Sonics played well throughout the match but paid the price for a poor second quarter in which they managed just two points. In the same period Reapers collected 13 points.

Reapers were ahead 19-15 at the end of the first quarter, they edged Sonics 12-11 in the third quarter but conceded a six-point lead in the last quarter.

Omer (15), Tayyab (12) and Waqar (9) were Reapers’ main players. Usama (12), Abdullah (9) and Noman (7) were Sonics’ leading scorers.

Bulls comfortably beat United Kings 59-30 in the third quarter-final.

After a slow start, Bulls dominated United Kings in all departments of the game. They led 27-12 at the end of the first two quarters and continued to play steadily to end as deserved winners.

Rizwan was clearly the man in form for Bulls. He availed most of his scoring opportunities to collect 26 points. Irfan played equally well for his 18 points and Usman Ranjha added eight. Ahmed (10), Aqib (8) and Omer (6) were the main players for United Kings.

The last quarter-final was the most keenly contested affair of the day — at least in the first half. Raptors had to overcome a one-point half-time deficit before downing Eagles 46-38.

There was little to choose from in the first two quarters as players on both the sides fought hard to take the early advantage. They matched point for point with Eagles leading 22-21 at lemons.

After the break, Raptors played with a little more purpose and held their nerve to win the game by eight points.

Farhan and Faiz scored 12 points each for Raptors while Mohsin had eight. Shumail led Eagles’ challenge with 14 points and was well supported by Hamza (10) and Faheem (6).