The second semifinal series of the UBA Pro Basketball League 2016 was played between defending champions Chennai Slam and last year’s runners up Pune Peshwas. Chennai took a step towards reaching the final for a second straight time after a convincing 88-72 win at the Game 1 of the best-of-three series played at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
The defending champions started off with a rampant offense, but Pune star man Narender Grewal kept up the fight with a couple of 3-pointers. On the other side, forward Ashutosh Rai and centre Gopal Ram led the scoring for Chennai. The veteran Gopal used his physical presence, scoring four points before missing a sitter.
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Chennai’s Nigerian point guard Chukwunanu Agu could only score a single point in the quarter from a free throw but his contributions were not limited to upping the scoreline. He was unmatchable in counters with his pace and agility. As for Pune, Gaurav Ohlan also impressed in the first quarter, finishing with 8 points. The Peshwas went on to end the quarter with a 21-17 lead.
Agu began the second quarter in style from the get-go; he sunk an early triple to boost his team’s effort to catch up. Narender replied with triples of his own, scoring two more to add to his two three pointers in the first quarters. However, this was the quarter that belonged to one man – Gopal. The Chennai veteran scored 12 points in the second quarter and was untouchable.
Pune struggled to score and could only manage 12 points in the quarter as opposed to the 27 that Chennai racked up. Going into halftime, Chennai had taken a comfortable 44-33 lead.
In the third quarter, Pune were aggressive from the start and cut the lead to six points, but Chennai picked up from where they left off to ensure their dominance. Agu mimicked his second quarter effort with another triple while Gopal was also in the thick of things. For Pune, Gaurav Ohlan kept the fight alive with 7 points in the third quarter.
Chennai forward Arjun GK came off the bench for the Slam, proving to be a vital and busy presence on the court, helping to keep Chennai on top with 5 points and a number of rebounds. He went on to finish with 10 rebounds, one less than Narender Grewal of Pune who had the game high figure of 11. At the end of the quarter, Chennai led 62-48.
In addition to his leading rebound figure, Pune star Narender also led the game in points, racking up 32 on the board. Half of his 32 points came in the final quarter, where he starred with a valiant effort which included another couple of three pointers. Unfortunately for him though, he lacked support and he had to carry the Peshwas through the game.
With Chennai continuing their scoring, there was no real hope for Pune. Longi, Carmel and Gopal helped stretch the lead even further at the very end for the Slam and the defending champions went on to post a fine 88-72 win.
Chennai Slam (Gopal 30pts 10rbs, Chukwunanu Agu 18pts 7asts 7stls, Arjun GK 12pts 10rbs) bt Pune Peshwas (Narender Grewal 32pts 11rbs, Gaurav Ohlan 21pts 10rbs, Arjun Mehta 4pts 7asts) 88-72 (17-21, 27-12, 18-15, 26-24)
