Abhishek’s three-point show sinks Chandigarh

Kochi keeps winning, Chennai brushes aside Mumbai

As he jogged from end to end midway through the match against Bengaluru Kings, one noticed Chandigarh Warriors captain Palpreet Singh Brar repeatedly nodding his head in disappointment.

With three men who were in action in the recent 3x3 World Tour in the Philippines, Chandigarh appeared the stronger side but it could not do much as Bengaluru’s Abhishek Gowda produced a series of three-pointers to guide his side to an 83-72 win in the Indian National Basketball League at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Tuesday.

Abhishek hoisted six threes in the second half as Bengaluru, which was level with Chandigarh 20-20 after the first quarter, broke away in the next two, gaining a five-point lead in each. Those threes were too much for Chandigarh to handle.

Bengaluru was also superior in the rebound department, especially under the defensive board where Pratyanshu Tomar and Arvind Arumugham looked good.

With the Bengaluru boys setting up a tight defence, Chandigarh was forced to shoot from outside for a good part of the last quarter which was close. And Chandigarh’s Gurbaz Singh produced four threes during this stage but they were not enough.

“Our strategy was to play fast today as we had younger players, the plan was to make more fast breaks and score,” said Bengaluru captain Arvind Arumugam.

Meanwhile, Kochi Tigers defeated Delhi Dribblers 83-57 for its third straight win — it is now the only team with an all-win record — while Chennai Heat brushed aside Mumbai Titans 100-73.