KARACHI, Sept 4: Karachi Basketball Club (KBBC) and Karachi Youth Club (KYC) joined HBL and KESC in the semifinals of Independence Day Basketball Tournament after securing runners-up spot in the last league matches played at Arambagh Floodlit Court Tuesday night.

HBL emerged as pool “A” Champions when they defeated Patrician Stars 88-59 thanks to another brilliant show by veterans player cum-manager Muhammad Azam, who scored 40 points.

Defeat to Patrician Stars helped KYC to finish runners-up with two victories.

KESC also finished on top in pool “B” with three straight victories. Electricians in their last match defeated All Collegiate Club 82-31. Niaz Mazhar and Arif Khan starred in their team’s triumph contributing 41 points between them.

KBBC secured second spot, having won two matches. They beat Karachi Cantt Sports Club (KCSC) 54-34 with Sultan Habib spearheading their team into the semi final with 19 points.

In the semifinal HBL take on KBBC and KESC take on KYC.

The final of the event will be held Friday night Sept 6.

Summarized scores:

HBL bt Patricians Stars 88-59

HBL 88 (Muhammad Azam 40, Altaf Habib 20, Muhammad Ashraf 17) Patrician Stars 59 (Darryl Fernandes 17, Alson 12, Darryl Richard 10, Aamir 9)

KESC bt ACC 82-31

KESC 82 (Niaz Mazhar 21, Arif Khan 20, M.Azeem 13, Wasim-ur- Rehman 12, Talha Amjad 10) ACC 31 (Shahmat 6, Ali Zaidi 6).

KBBC bt KCSC 54-34

KBBC 54 (Sultan Habib 19, M.Ashraf 12, Baseet Khan 9) KCSC 34 (Noman 19, Muzammil 8, Raza 7).—APP