KARACHI: The National Bank of Pakistan Cup basketball tournament has reached the quarter-final stage at the Arambagh floodlit court on Sunday night with all local teams making it to the knockout stage.

Mahad Tariq starred with 27 points as Karachi District Central inflicted 58-35 defeat on Larkana to top group B. The winners led 24-14 at half time.

Making good use of his scoring abilities, Mahad turned out to be the livewire for his team. He was assisted by Waqar nine and Tashfeen eight.

Hammad Ali and Shehroz scored 12 and eight respectively for Larkana which followed suit after elimination of Hyderabad a day earlier.

In the second encounter, district South Whites carved out an emphatic 53-25 victory over Sukkur to emerge group A champions.

Hammad N D Khan capitalised more opportunities to emerge top scorer with 15. He was followed by Hamza (8) and Shakir (7).

Naveed and Ashhad contributed 10 and eight respectively for Sukkur that too made exit following back to back defeats.

In the third match, district East Whites sent Mirpurkhas packing 46-26 to finish on top of group C. The winners led 28-10 at breather.

Shahmir (10), Mubashir and Mohsin eight apiece and Hassan six shared the scoring honours for winning outfit while Haris and Tariq scored nine and eight respectively for losers.

Published in Dawn December 2nd , 2014