It was a day out for the winless teams on the fifth day of the UBA professional basketball league. At the badminton court, in Balewadi sports complex, after Mumbai beat Punjab, defending champions, the Delhi Capitals managed to hand Haryana Gold 102-90, to muster their first points here on Wednesday.
Delhi’s Ajay Singh who came off the bench single-handedly propelled his side to victory top scoring with 23 points under his belt which included one three-pointer, and r he was rightly declared as the man of the match. Arshdeep Singh’s last-minute blitz saw the game swing in the favour of Delhi. The teams were tied 97-97 when Arshdeep hit the game-winning shot.
Arshdeep was on the court for just 19 minutes but those few minutes were enough for Delhi to register their first win in this professional basketball league.
“Yes, we have ourselves to blame as we failed to hold on to the lead and let off our rivals. There is nothing lost we shall make a comeback," said Pawan Singh of the Haryana Gold.
This was Delhi's first win in three outings, and in the process became the third team to notch up the three-figure mark.
“It did take some time for the boys to settle and they did well in crucial stages of the game, and the end results say it all," said Mukesh, the Delhi coach.
Three-point shooting helps Haryana to narrow lead at half-time
Deepak Rathee and Eban Hyams came up with their best as Haryana raced to four point lead in the first ten minutes of the game. On the other end, Delhi’s Ajay Pratap Singh, Yudvhir Singh and Kaushik Vinay chipped in their bit to give some fight back in the game.
Delhi were dominating in field goals, however, Haryana dominated in free throws and three-pointers which made the difference as they held on to the four-point lead over their rivals going into halftime (48-44).
Ajay Singh comes to the fore
Delhi woke up from slumber in the third quarter as they took the lead for the first time in the match, and it was Ajay Singh doing the maximum damages to the opponents basket.
The teams were tied 60-60 at one stage, but Haryana got back through Deepak Rathee who picked up three-pointers in crucial stages as Haryana took the lead 63-60 mid-way in the third quarter.
The game it not over till the last minute as my boys did well and we won,” said Delhi coach Mukesh.
Delhi Capitals: 102 Ajay Singh 23, A Singh 13, Y Singh 14) bt Haryana: 90 (Deepak Rathee 16, Eban Hyams 15, M Bhat 14)
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