The 12th Mercantile Services Basketball (MSBA) Knockout tournament tipped-off at Hendry Pediris Basketball Complex yesterday (26th). WS02 took on Sri Lankan Airlines “B”, in the maiden encounter of the 27-match series.
Sri Lankan Airlines “B” (SLA), started the game at a quick pace, leading by fourteen points at the end of the first quarter; the opposition were only able to score one basket for the entire ten minutes.
WSO2 were desperate to rectify their mistakes after the bad start and went on to add nine points for the second quarter bringing their score up to eleven points at half time. Yet, the consistency in scoring from the SLA “B” continued. Piling up a dozen points for the second quarter, at lemons the score board read, 28-11.
With the bad first half, WSO2 never looked settled in the game. Missing out on the basics, in both offensive and defensive aspects, they looked down and out. Another nine points were topped up by them in the third quarter, but the leaking of the points damaged the tally. SLA “B”, went to score another dozen in reply. At the whistle in the third quarter scores read, 40-20.
Photo Album – Mercantile Knockout Tournament 2018 (Day – 01)
It was a walk in the park for SLA “B”, in the final six hundred seconds of the game. With no clear plan to cut down the scoring of the opposition, WSO2 settled for a mere four points in the final quarter. Even though the game was safely tucked away by the Airliners, it was important they go all out and hit their form.
Scoring another eleven points in the quarter, SLA “B” won the handsomely, 51-24. WSO2 was knocked out, while the Airliners set flight to fight another day.
 Knockout tournament tipped-off at Hendry Pediris Basketball Complex yesterday (26th). WS02 took on Sri Lankan Airlines “B”, in the maiden encounter of the 27-match series.){kind=link}