KARACHI, April 8 International Mohammad Azam delighted the crowd with his brisk shooting as former national champions, Habib Bank, chalked up an emphatic 80-41 victory over District East Whites to advance into the quarter-finals of the NBP President's Cup basketball tournament at Arambagh floodlit court on Wednesday evening.

Giving glimpses of yore, veteran Azam stood tall scoring 30 of the total 80 points for the bankers who enjoyed 50-23 lead at half time. Altaf Habib was the other notable scorer with 21.

Though District East Whites lost, one of its player Mohammad Shabbar caught the eye by scoring 23 points aided by seven three pointers.

The bankers emerged group B champions with three wins followed by the District West Greens.

In another match, District South Whites whipped District Malir Greens 50-37 to head group A. Ali Ahmed and Hammad contributed 11 and 10 respectively for winners while Ali Raza scored 25 for losers.

Mirpurkhas finished runners up in the group on better scoring rate following a tie against District Central Whites.

Another fancied outfit, KESC, thrashed District West Whites 54-16 in their last league match to head group C. Talha Amjad and Rashid Mushtaq shared 24 points amongst themselves while Areeb Qureshi scored seven for losers. KESC were followed by District East Greens.

Pakistan Navy was declared group D champions after District South Greens was scratched following a protest by sailors for submission of 13 names instead of 12 for their last encounter.

South Greens had beaten the Navy 35-31.

Larkana finished runners up in the group and advance to the last eight.