With not much at stake, arch rivals Punjab Steelers and Haryana Gold dished out good basketball, and in the end, it was the off day for Haryana as Punjab pulled off a 94-91 win, in the North Division of UBA Professional Basketball League, in Pune on Friday.
With both the teams sitting pretty with two win in the three played before this match, a win here saw Punjab straight away book their place in the semifinals. More importantly, a win here would have given the much-needed break of the players, as the team finishing second for third play matches without break.
“It was very good win and we wanted to top the table which was more important,” said Gurkirpal Singh, the Punjab coach of the team which failed to make it beyond quarterfinals in the last championship.
“Yes we have a good side and hopefully if we play the game we played today we do have stand a chance to make it to the finals,” said the coach of the side which does have good bench strength.
“Luck does play a vital role in any game and we were a bit lucky, as Haryana did have a chance to bounce back as we had two points lead, but their attempts turned out to be mere threats,” said Gurkirpal Singh about the last two minutes jitters.
Himanshu Sharma's jump shot almost brought Haryana back into the game, however, Punjab held their nerves to pull out a three-point thriller to top the table.
Trying to be more aggressive saw Pawan Kumar-coached side Haryana commit fouls finished with 27 fouls in the 40 minutes of play. “Yes the boys wanted to be aggressive and that was the reason for them to fall prey to fouls,” said Puneet Kumar one of the Haryana coach.
Haryana’s Prakash Mishra fought a lone battle for them while Jaskaran along with Rajat Srivastav made their presence felt in the fourth session of game, but it was too late.
Garry Gill along with Harmandeep Singh and Kuldeep Tita Singh led Punjab Steelers from the front. Grewal Gill (28) with Harmandeep Singh (10) were on target for most of the time. While Prakash Mishra (22) played well for Haryana
Rajat made his presence felt in the fourth session of the game, but it was too late for the Haryana Gold as they fell short by three points. On the other hand it was escape to victory for Punjab who looked commanding in the first three sessions of the game.
Final Score: Punjab Steelers 94-91 Haryana Gold
