Punjab men beat Kerala 84-70, enter quarterfinals

NEw DELHI: Punjab men booked their place in the knock-out round as they defeated Kerala 84-70 at the 64th National Basketball Championship at Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium, on Friday.
Punjab, who were trailing 19-24 in the first quarter, came back strongly with power-packed plays to get their third consecutive win of the championships.
The architect of Punjab's win was Palpreet Singh who scored 31 points, while Ranbir Singh finished with an impressive 23 points to take their side to quarterfinals.
Ajeeth Sugunan and Basil Philips scored 20 points each for Kerala, while Albin Baby added 11.
Tamil Nadu, who shocked defending champions Uttarakhand yesterday, continued their good run in the tournament as they trounced Chhattisgarh 71-42.
Both teams matched each other initially and were tied at 34 points apiece at half time before Tamil Nadu surged ahead.
Tamil Nadu collected 22 points in the third quarter and conceded just two points by putting up a solid defense.
In another match, Karnataka defeated Jammu & Kashmir 99-66 after leading 49-27 at half-time.
In the women section, Kerala, Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhattishgarh recorded easy wins in their respective group matches.
Results Men: Punjab (Palpreet Singh 31, Ranbir Singh 23) bt Kerala (Ajeeth Sugunan 20, Basil Philip 20, Albin Baby 11) 84-70 (19-24, 19-12, 27-18, 19-16)
Tamil Nadu (Venkatesh S 23, Dinesh C 18, Rikin Pethani 15) bt Chhattisgarh 71-42 (Karanpal Singh 16, Ajay Pratap Singh 13) 16-16, 18-18, 22-2, 15-6).