MSBA League Tournament recommences following Ranil Ganewatte’s sudden death

Friday, 7 July 2017 00:00 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With a cloud of sadness still hanging over their heads, the Mercantile Services Basketball Association recommenced the MSBA 27th League Tournament 2017 which was stopped in its tracks on 16 June due to the sudden death of Hayleys player Ranil Ganewatte while he was playing on Wednesday, 28 June at Sir Edward Henry Pedris Stadium. 

Three matches were scheduled to be worked off on that fateful day. The first two games were completed before the tragedy occurred in the game between Hayleys and Airport and Aviation. 

The results of the two matches played on 16 June.

Women’s ‘B’ Division: Mobitel beat DPMC 42-29 after leading 22-11 at halftime. Indeepani Dissanayake (15) and Kaushalya Rupasinghe (11) scored for the winners while Tharushika Alwis (17) scored for the losers. 

Men’s ‘C’ Division: Standard Chartered trounced DPMC 72-37, after leading 37-22 at halftime. Devon Robert (32) and Shenal Fernando (12) scored for the winners. Thanushka Wanigaratne (10) top-scored for the losers. 

28 June match results 

Men’s ‘C’ Division: Standard Chartered continued to win, beating LB Finance 76-53 after leading 34-19 at halftime. The top shooters for the bankers were Devon Robert (18), Madushanka Ratnayake (16) and C. Chenud (13). Stephen Fernando (20) and Mathew Surain (20) played their best for LBF. 

Men’s ‘B’ Division: MAS Holdings ‘Red’ recorded a hard-fought 51-44 win over the John Keells Group, after holding a one-point lead (18-17) at the breather. The match-winning shooters for MAS were S. Vaheesan (20), Andrew Alphonsus (13) and Sudesh Ahamed (10). Vishwa Sumanasekera (20) played a hard game for JK 

Men’s ‘C’ Division: NDB Bank scored a comprehensive 75-46 win over HSBC after holding on to a commanding 40-17 lead at halftime. Jude Perera (18), Mohamed Fawshan (15) and Malen Cabandugama (15) were in top form for NDB. Hasantha Gunawardena (17) played a lone hand for HSBC.    

29 June match results 

Women’s ‘B’ Division: MAS Holdings trounced IFS RD International 58-15 after leading 31-8 at halftime. Erandi Rajapaksa (22) and Wendy Smith (15) were a class act for MAS.

Men’s ‘A’ Division: In the opening match of the top league, DFCC Bank turned the tables on Sampath Bank 60-50. Sampath Bank led 26-24 at the turnaround. 

The winning trio for DFCC was Roshan Fernando (13), Rajitha Hettiarachchi (13) and Terrence Neydoff (12). Vimukthi Elangasinghe (14), Chamath Dhanawansa (12) and Dasun Ranasundera (10) scored for Sampath. 

Men’s ‘E’ Division: Newcomers Moulana Travels registered their first win, thrashing Airport and Aviation 53-29, after leading 30-13 at halftime. The winning shooters for Moulana were Insamam Hassim (15), S. Maulana (13) and N. Maulana (11). STJ Silva (20) played a lone game for A&A 

The tournament is being continued at the same venue.

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