KARACHI, Sept 24: Army, Habib Bank, Wapda and Railways entered the semifinals of the 45th National basketball championship at Attock, says a message received on Saturday. Reigning champions Army routed PAF 73-49 after leading 43-25 at the interval. Muhammad Pervez and Muhammad Ilyas played main role in Army’s win with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

Imran Munwar emerged top-scorer with 16 points for the losers.

Last year’s runners-up HBL whipped Higher Education Commission (HEC) 79-44 after holding 44-14 ascendancy at halftime. Asif Tanvir led the way for bankers with 25 points.

Army take on Railways and HBL face Wapda in semifinals on Sunday.

Adnan Khan was in top form as he scored highest 29 points with three three pointers to guide Railways to 68-59 success over Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF), Wah Cantt. Winners enjoyed 32-21 advantage at halftime.

Adnan got good support from Allah Bakhsh (16) and Mahmood Ahmed (9).

Adeel (19), Jahangir Ahmed (13) and Shahid Ali (11) displayed superb dribbling, passing and accuracy as Wapda outclassed Police 90-54. Wapda led 48-28 at the breather.

Zaheer Gill (18) and Azmat Baig (14) put up stiff resistance for the losers.

Results:

Army bt PAF 73-49 (43-25)

Army: M Pervez 18, M Ilyas 15, Waheed Iqbal 11, Khalid Ahmed 10.

PAF: Imran Munawar 16, Syed Tanvir Ali 9, Gul Hasan 8.

HBL bt HEC 79-44

HBL: Asif Tanvir 25, M Ashraf 15, M Azam 10.

HEC: Kashif Hadi 10, Sannan Hayat 8.

Wapda bt Police 90-54

Wapda: Adeel 19, Jahangir Ahmed 13, Shahid Ali 11.

Police: Zaheer Gill 18, Azmat Baig 14, Malik Abbas 8.

Railways bt POF 68-59 (32-21)

Railways: Adnan Khan 29, Allah Bakhsh 16, Mahmood Ahmed 9.

POF: Abid Hussain 20, Ishrat Shah 10, Roheel Shaukat 10.—APP