Punjab Steelers kept their winning streak intact to overcome Hyderabad Sky 93-85 in the UBA Pro Basketball League Season-3 at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Sunday.
This match showed how a team that was a laggard can stun anyone. There were many hues of Punjab all the while in the match. However, the initial quarters had a different story to tell.
A team that dominated well in their inaugural game against Delhi, looked quite laggard in the first quarters against Hyderabad. The later was attacking since the buzzer went out. Hyderabad were aggressive, and encasing out on the fouls created by Punjab.
Counterattack, which was supposed to be the strong point of Punjab in their first game, was nowhere to be seen. Hyderabad were dominating, but a total of nine fouls got the ball rolling for Punjab. Kaushal Ravi saved the blushes for Punjab as he helped his team equalize 24 all, with his total of 9 points.
A pep talk by coach Gurkipal Singh in the break and, for a moment it looked like Punjab were back to winning ways. But Hyderabad were in no forgiving mood. A couple of three-pointers and Hyderabad were leading almost by more than 10 points. Mahesh scored 80 percent of the three-pointers for Hyderabad in the second quarter. By halftime, Hyderabad Sky were leading 48-42.
The third quarter saw a different side of Punjab, they were totally in the zone. Dominating and encashing very moment. It was Punjab’s Rajveer Singh who did most of the damage for Hyderabad. Punjab, for a change was opening up and playing. With a great effort, Punjab was leading 70-62 by the end of Q3. Punjab was a different side in Q4, giving very less chance to Hyderabad to score. In the end, Punjab won 93-85.
Gurvinder Singh emerged as the star player for Punjab. Happy with this performance after the match he said, “The main problem for us was our defence. Initially, we faced a lot of problem but our coach motivated us a lot. We committed several mistakes in the initial quarters,” says Singh. Further adding, “We won both our matches. This definitely puts us in the drivers seat. Teams confidence is on could nine.”
Punjab will now take on Mumbai Challengers on Tuesday, while Hyderabad face Chennai Slam on Wednesday.
Result: Punjab Steelers (Gurvinder 19pts, Kaushal 13pts) bt Hyderabad Sky (Mashesh 24pts, Joginder 18pts) (24-24, 42-48, 70-62, 93-85)
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