In the last game of the league stages, southern teams Bengaluru Beast and Hyderabad Sky were looking to clinch a playoff spot in a wide open south division group. Virtually a knockout game, the atmosphere was thick with anticipation with Hyderabad playing before a raucous home crowd.
Bengaluru showed no signs of pressure in the early going, getting off to a fast start in front of the away crowd. Beast centre Somveer had a strong first quarter getting deep paint position to score around the basket. He even turned back the clock to electrify the crowd with a two-handed slam in transition. Point guard Raghuram also knocked down a couple of shots for Beast to give them a double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter.
Down 29 to 16 entering the second quarter, Hyderabad gave the home team something to cheer about fighting their way back into the contest. Mahesh Padmanabhan found his touch from 3-point range draining a triple early. Sky’s Nigerian big man Edwin Oneh asserted his way around the basket overpowering the Bengaluru frontcourt. Hyderabad cut Begnaluru’s lead down to 6 points at halftime down 38 to 44.
In the third quarter, Raghuram started lighting it up for Bengaluru scoring with his jumpers and leaking ahead for transition buckets. He had five steals in the game, converting defense to offense to increase his team’s lead. Somveer continued going to work in the paint and Bengaluru started pulling away from Hyderabad. But towards the end of the third quarter, Monish Wilson and Shri Ganesh Patil came off the bench for the Sky and hit two huge 3-pointers to reduce their deficit to single digits.
With the hosts down by 8 points entering the final period, guard Mahesh Padmanabhan went on a mini-run of his own, battling for his team to stay in the tournament. But Beast forwards Manpreet (13 points) and Kaif Zia (16 points) ensured that their team stayed well ahead, hitting crucial buckets in the paint.
A late 3-pointer from Visu Palani pushed Bengaluru to further safety; this was followed by a huge two-handed slam from Kaif Zia that was the final nail in the coffin for Hyderabad. Bengaluru ended on a 77-68 victory clinching a playoff berth and knocking Hyderabad out of the tournament.
Bengaluru Beast (Somveer 19 pts 12 rbs, Kaif Zia 16 pts 11 rbs, Raghuram 14 pts 4 assists 5 steals) bt Hyderabad Sky (Mahesh Padmanabhan 19 pts, Monish Wilson 9 pts, Edwin Oneh 8 pts) 77-68 (29-16, 15-22, 17-15, 16-15)
