Golden Gate end NASA’s title bid

KATHMANDU, JUL 25 -

Defending champions NASA had to let go their hopes of retaining the title of the Morgan Cup after suffering a 84-63 loss at the hands of Golden Gate in the semi-finals of the 10th Morgan Cup Boy’s Basketball Tournament at the Dashrath Stadium covered hall on Monday.

The win fixed Golden Gate’s final meeting with Premier, who advanced to final stage with a 76-42 win over Navodit 76-42 in the day’s second semi-finals.

The previous edition’s runner-up, Golden Gate exacted revenge against NASA by leading the early two quarters 21-11, 26-11. Though NASA came back with a 21-18, 20-19 wins in the third and fourth quarters respectively, they couldn’t avert the loss. Bipendra Maharjan scored 21 points for Golden Gate. In the second semi-finals, Premier outplayed Navodit 76-42. Premier bagged all the quarters with ease, scoring 17-12, 23-8, 22-10 and 14-12 points in four quarters. Sadish Pradhan was the highest scored with 20 points. In the girl’s semi-finals, host Morgan hammered Premier 60-18 to meet defending champions Prime in the finals.

Like the score-line suggested, Morgan were dominant throughout the game, having the upper hand in the first two quarters with 23-2, 21-4 win.