MSBA League Men’s ‘A’ Division progresses

Clinton Stallone (26) and Thimothy Nithushan (15) fought like Trojans, as they propelled Commercial Credit & Finance to snatch a heart-stopping 56-53 win over Fair First Insurance at the ongoing 27th MSBA League Men’s ‘A’ Division basketball tournament 2017, which continued at the Sir Edward Pedris Stadium last week. 

Fair First Insurance held the upper hand at halftime (20-16).

Roshan Randima, Isuru Perera and Manimesh Fernando (11 points each) were outstanding for Fair First Insurance, who are making their debut in the tournament. 

Men’s ‘B’ Division: Dialog Axiata registered  their first win by scoring a hard-fought 38-34 win over HNB, who had the advantage at halftime, with a lead of four points (22-18). Vajira Kumarasinghe (12) was the match-winner for Dialog while Amila Ratnayake (10) stood out for HNB.

MAS Holdings ‘Red’ scored a comprehensive 65-44 win over NTB after leading 27-14 at halftime. The top shooting trio for MAS were S. Vaheesan (27), S. Ahamed (14) and A. Alphonsus (14). C. Krishanthan (20) played a lone hand for the bankers. 

Women’s ‘B’ Division: DPMC scored a comfortable 43-24 win over IFS R&D International after holding a commanding lead of 22-9 at halftime. Tharushika Alwis (11) top-scored for DPMC and Buddhika Kulasuriya (10) top-scored for IFS.

Men’s ‘D’ Division: Fighting very inch of the way  in the second half, Commercial Bank scored a 59-53 win over Amana Bank, who held the whip hand at halftime (31-19), Kevin Kumaran (28) and Jonny Armugam turned on the heat in the second period of play for Commercial . Giwantha Karunatillake (22) played an outstanding game for Amana. 

Hirdaramani Group scored an impressive 57-31 win over MAS Holdings ‘Black’, after leading 25-10 at halftime. Hirdaramani’s Niroshan Pushpakumara (32) was unstoppable. 

Men’s ‘E’ Division: Citizens Development Business had to fight tooth and nail to overcome Virtusa, 34-30, after holding a one-point lead at halftime (18-17). Supun Lakmal (15) was a match winner for CDB and Kasun Madusanka (10) was the top-scorer for Virtusa. 

WNS Global trounced Airport and Aviation Services 76-39 after having a massive lead at halftime (42-16). R. Nilafir (28), N. Samarakoon (15) and I. Ismail (21) were in topping form for WNS. Indika de Silva (21) fought a lone battle for A&A. The tournament will continue at the same venue.