In one of the most exciting turn of events, Haryana Gold defeated the Mumbai Challengers by 85-84 in the UBA Pro Basketball League Season-3 at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Saturday.
The whole match was a nail-biting event, as both the teams gave very less chance to their opponents to score. A foul by Haryana in the fourth quarter gave Mumbai a slight leverage. Gagandeep converted two points for Mumbai via a free throw which got the score to 83 all.
But then there was Jaskaran who earned two valuable points for Haryana through a free throw. As the buzzer went out, the Haryana team leaped for joy. In the end, Haryana beat Mumbai just by a single point. With a total of 13 points, Haryana’s Birender Singh was adjourned the player of the match.
The first two quarters had a different story to tell. In the first quarter, the Mumbai Challengers were invincible. Although, more of fouls (6) were committed by Mumbai, they did not fail to lead the first quarter. Their aggressive play gave them the upper hand as they led the Haryana Gold 25-23.
The start of the second quarter looked like a game changer for Haryana Gold, as an early three-pointer by Mayur Bhat got his team back in the lead by a single point 26-25. After that, it was no looking by for Haryana until half time. Easy ones and twos gave cleared Haryana’s deflect. A consistent performance by Haryana gave them a two point led 44-42 at half time.
It was just Haryana’s coach who did not give up till the end. Smiling ear to ear in the end, Pawan informed Sportskeeda, “We came in this game with a win in the mind. Mumbai had most number of the international players, we had seasoned player. This made the difference for us. The boys played their best while they never gave a chance for Mumbai to lead,” Further adding, “It was just in the first quarter that Mumbai were in the lead, rest all the time we were in the game making all the moves.”
The Haryana coach was all praises for Jaskaran who turned the match for them. “He is one of our valuable player. We owe the win to him as he earned two important points in the end. We made some mistake in the fourth quarter but he managed to win for us,” he signed off.
Result: Haryana Gold (Birender Singh 18pts, Jaskaran 13pts) bt Mumbai Challengers
(Jagdeep 23pts, Ranbir 19pts) (23-25, 44-42, 68-62, 85-84)
