Kohima, May 13 (MExN): In a highly anticipated showdown, the Stallions from Kohima downed The Mystic Ballers (TMB) to lift the championship trophy of the 10th Open Basketball Tournament (OBT) at the Khuociezie local ground in Kohima on May 12.
Undefeated and consistent throughout the tournament, Stallions won with a convincing 18 points margin.
The teams took the court cheered on by an animated crowd. The crowd cheering on every move of the players, chants of “TMB Up, Up" and "Stallions Up, Up" rang the arena.
Stallions looked solid in both the first and second half, scoring points over TMB as the latter kept trailing behind. Playing the first half, the new champions took the lead from the first quarter with the score reading 21-13 and in the second quarter 38-25.
The Stallions continued to dominate the game in the second half notching up a third quarter 52-39 lead over the runners-up TMB. At the blow of the final whistle, the scoreboard read 72-54 in favour of Stallions.
The six-day tournament was presented by Seyie Auto Maruti Suzuki and jointly organized by Nagaland Basketball Tournament and Suncity Kohima.
Seyievizo Kire from Stallions was declared the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.
Champions Stallions walked away richer with a cash prize of Rs 60,000 along with trophies and citations while runner up TMB had to be content with a cash award of Rs 30,000 and trophies and citations. Semi-finalists Taurus and Cretan Bulls received Rs 10,000 each, while the MVP of the tournament also pocketed Rs 10,000 along with a citation.
Enroute the final, TMB stunned defending champions Taurus in the first semi-final match.
Undefeated Stallions edged Cretan Bulls by 3 points in a closely contested 2nd semi-final encounter. Stallions led 54-38 in the first half. The second half saw a resurgent Cretan Bulls fighting hard to narrow the gap till the final whistle. The score read 73-70.
As a special feature of the 10th OBT, two exhibition matches were played on the closing day. Grizzly sub-juniors defeated Black Knights sub-juniors 40-39, while Suncity Juniors beat Suncity Seniors by 31-28.
Various performances from artists like Moko Koza, Table 3, HOP dancers, Tribal Cult etc. formed part of the entertainment segment on the closing day.
Brig. Sandeep S. Sharda, DIG, 5 Sector Assam Rifles graced the final match as guest of honour. While expressing his gratitude to the organisers for inviting him, Sandeep termed sports as a big binder of people. He said that basketball is one such manifestation, which played out at the 10th OBT.
"I see the energy that you all have around this basketball court and I'm sure that energy is going to transform this match into a memorable one," the Brigadier said. He gave away the prizes to the winners. Issac Kario, a former flight attendant, fitness enthusiast and MMA fighter and winner of Super Fight League 2012 also attended the closing day as a special guest.
A total of 11 teams from the state took part in this year's edition.
