Pune Peshwas' Siddhanth Shinde and Narendar Grewal turned to be double trouble for Bengaluru Beast as the duo propelled the host to their second win (south Division) in the UBA professional basketball league, at the Balewadi sports complex in Puneon Thursday.
In the process, Bengaluru suffered their second defeat in their three outings in the first professional league in the country. On the other hand, Pune Peshwas have brightened their chances of making the cut in the league.
It was the last quarter which saw the thrills and frills of the game as the team were locked evenly. And it was Narendra Grewal and Siddhanth Shinde who made the difference for Pune.
In the last ten minutes, Pune held the upper hand in a high-intensity affair. The Peshwas’ forwards Siddhanth Shinde and Narendra Grewal made the most of the chaos and helped Pune close out the win.
“These two guys (Siddhanth and Narendra) are livewires of the team and with the support for the other in the side they did well to make the most of it,” said Ram Kumar, the Pune Peshwas coach whose side takes on Hyderabad in their last league match.
“We have a chance to make it to the final and I am sure we will qualify. The biggest advantage we have is that the match will be played in Pune,” continued the former Indian skipper.
It was a vigorous outing for the Pune Peshwas as they were off to a rousing start against Bengaluru Beast in the third season of the UBA professional basketball league at the badminton hall, in Balewadi sports complex in Pune on Thursday.
Their 2-point advantage in the first quarter was just the start and they used that as a platform to build on the lead. At half-time, they found themselves in an advantageous position as they led the team from Down South by 9 points (50-41).
Kaif Zia, Loveneet Singh, and Visu Palani played well for the Beasts, and it was Kaif Zia who excelled from the 3-point line. Unfortunately for the trio, however, they had to end up on the losing side.
Final: Bengaluru Beast 95 (Loveneet Singh 28, Kaif Zia 24, Visu Palani 11) lost to Pune Peshwas 105 (Siddhanth Shinde 29, Narendra Grewal 28, Ajinkya Mane 14)
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