KARACHI: A brilliant shot by Raj Kumar in the last few seconds of extra time enabled Arambagh Club whip Nishtar Club 70-67 points in the nerve tingling final to win the Essa Lab basketball tournament at the former’s floodlit court on Monday evening.

Earlier, a superb three-pointer by Zain-ul-Abedin helped Arambagh Club drew level with Nishtar Club 63-all in the regulation time.

Watched by a sizeable crowd, the final was evenly fought by both the prominent outfits of the city and had many ups and downs.

The triumph that came after a long layoff also helped famous Arambagh Club restore its pride as it is known for producing a large number of internationals in the last five decades.

Both the teams started cautiously and Nishtar earned 11-7 lead before squandering it as Arambagh quickly added six points to their tally to win the first quarter 13-11.

The tempo almost remained the same with lead changing hands as Arambagh trailed 25-26 at the half time.

At one stage Nishtar Club earned eight points lead 41-33 before Arambagh fought back to drew level 46-all at the end of third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Nishtar Club accelerated their pace and had an upper hand 55-46 and was about to win 63-60 when a three-pointer by Zain in the dying moments helped Arambagh Club level the score 63-all.

The match was extended to four-minute extra time after both teams failed to settle the issue. Nishtar again surged 67-65 when Arambagh not only leveled 67-all but earned 68-67 lead when Raj after collecting a pass scored to post 70-67 victory as whistle blew.

Asad Imam, who scooped 20 points, was declared man of the match. Up and coming Jazib contributed 13 and was followed by Fazeel 11 points.

Shabbar top scored for the losers with 23 and was assisted by Haroon nine and Hamza eight.

The winners fetched Rs10,000 while the runners-up earned Rs7,000.

The best player of the tournament award went to Talha Amjad. The fair play trophy was received by Malir Trojans.

Zain who scored 12 three pointers in the event, received best three-pointer award while highest free throw award was received by Raj.

Maj Imran (best centre), Fazeel and Talal (best forwards), Shabbar (best shooting guard), Saifullah (best point guard) and Ishaq (energetic player) also received the awards.

Cash prizes amounting to Rs40,000 were disbursed among teams and players.

Rehan Hamid, CEO of Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company (STDC), announced Rs15,000 cash award for Arambagh Club.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017