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Sunday, February 26, 2006

Kerala men in final

KOTTAYAM: Lifting their game to match the occasion, Kerala men defeated Andhra Pradesh 91-75 and marched into the final of the 46th South Zone senior basketball championship at the Nehru Stadium here on Saturday night.

With captain and centre, international Subash Shenoy finding his touch and new star R. Manoj maintaining his form, Kerala enjoyed a 10-point advantage almost throughout the match.

The game was fast and lively. The home team, which appeared a bit disjointed last evening, combined well, especially in the first half.

The passes were fast and fluent.

Bobit Mathew, T.S. Abhilash and R. Manoj made countless attempts at the basket but the last two were the most successful, with Manoj once again turning out to be the hero of the day.

Good defence

Kerala also defended strongly in the first half, crowding the lane, forcing the Andhra Pradesh boys to shoot from outside. But with J. Pankaj and Kumar Varma coming good with long-rangers, Kerala could never breathe easy.

Early in the last quarter, Andhra Pradesh cut the host's lead to just three points (67-64). The home side quickly woke up, pinned its rival at that score for a few minutes and raced to a 77-64 lead. The rest was easy.

The results:

Men's semifinals: Kerala 91 (R. Manoj 27, Subash Shenoy 12, T.S. Abhilash 18) bt Andhra Pradesh 75 (J. Pankaj 17, Kumar Varma 18).

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