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Mission Giants (black) and Stallions in action during their quarter final match of the ongoing 10th Open Basketball Tournament (OBT) at Kohima local ground on Friday. (Photo credit: Max Khieya)[/caption]
Kohima, May 8 (EMN): Defending champions Taurus, Stallions, TMB, and Cretan Bulls won their respective quarterfinal match and entered the semi-finals of the ongoing 10th Open Basketball Tournament (OBT) at Khuociezie local ground in Kohima on Friday.
Defending champions Taurus, and the Stallions remained undefeated as they edged closer to the finals of the tournament. On Saturday’s semi-final matches, Taurus will face TMB and Stallions against Cretan Bulls. The winners of the first semi-final match and second semi-final match will then lock horns to fight for the first place in the grand finale on Saturday evening.
In the match, Taurus remained dominant as the pool leader as the team exploded an 84-53 win over Ephraim to enter the semi-finals for the second time since the last year's edition. Stallions maintained their consistency by defeating Mission Giants 81-46.
Taurus swept all the four quarters in the first match playing against Ephraim. The defending champions led the points with 23 in the first quarter and 33 in the second quarter respectively. Taurus continued to dominate the game as they took the lead with 56 points in the third quarter and final quarter making the game 84-53.
During the second match, Mission Giants stunned the Stallions 24-18 in the first quarter. However, the unbeatable Stallions picked up momentum in the second quarter to take the lead with the score 42 points. Stallions continued their form to notch up 63 in the third quarter and 81 in the fourth quarter to enter the semi-final round.
In the third quarterfinal match, TMB secured their semi-finals berth after a thumping victory over Ophidians 57-45 while Cretan Bulls also picked up a crucial victory, beating Orca 70-53 in the last quarter-final match to join TMB in the semis.
TMB defeated Ophidians 18-14, 23-22, 36-32 and 57-45 in the first, second, third and fourth quarter respectively to storm into the semi-finals.
Cretan Bulls edged out Orca in an exciting encounter that was played in the last match of the quarterfinals in the evening. Orca opened their account in the first quarter to take the lead but the Cretan Bulls soon retained parity and equalised with the spirited Orca 26-26 in the second quarter. Cretan Bulls came back stronger and took the lead 49-36 in the third quarter. The scoreboard read Cretan Bulls 70 and Orca 53 after the final whistle.
Ruopfuzhanuo Whiso, Miss Nagaland first runner-up and FBB Colour Femina Miss India Nagaland for 2018 attended the event as the special guest on Friday.
Brig.Sandeep S.Sharda, DIG, 5 Sector Assam Rifles has consented to grace the final event as guest of honour while former Flight Attendant Fitness and NMA Practioner and winner of Super Fight League 2012 Issac Kario will attend the event as a special guest on Saturday.
SF's Fixture on Saturday
Taurus Vs TMB at 12:00 PM
Stallions Vs Cretan Bulls
