Chennai, 24th February, 2017: Bengaluru Beasts put up a determined performance to defeat a surging Hyderabad Sky 104-94. Hyderabad Sky’s Mahesh Padmanabhan hit his first jumper after creating space with a crossover. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi of Bengaluru answered with a strong drive inside, something he’d do all night long. Bengaluru’s game plan seemed to be to get to the rim on every possession as all of their early conversions came from up close. Mak Boskailo and Manu Thomas got two quick dunks in the final minute of the first quarter as they pushed Hyderabad’s lead to 21-16 at the end of the quarter.
Hyderabad pushed their lead to 26-18 in the opening minute of the second quarter. Hyderabad added three three-pointers from Mahesh, Mak and Joginder. Vishesh dropped 16 points in the first half along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists to lead Bengaluru as Bengluru shot a paltry 1-12 from downtown. Hyderabad had built a 39-24 lead at one point before Bengaluru were led charging back by Vishesh to close the first quarter at 47-40.
Vishesh started the third quarter by going coast to coast and assisting Solomon on a three pointer. It seemed that every time Bengaluru got close Hyderabad would go on a run to get a comfortable lead. Kelly ended the third quarter with a three pointer to give Hyderabad a 76-74 lead over Bengaluru to close the third quarter. Hyderabad had four players in double figures at this point while Bengaluru were led by the trio of Vishesh, Palpreet and Solomon as they had 64 of Bengaluru’s 74 points till the end of the third.
The fourth quarter started with Vishesh attacking the rim with fury to help give Bengaluru an 84-78 lead with 7 minutes left in the game. Mak hit a long two to bring Hyderabad within 90-82 with four minutes left and Kelly hit a three to reduce the lead to 90-85 as the game came down to the wire. Hyderabad put up a spirited comeback but Palpreet’s tip-in with 1:10 left put Bengaluru up 95-87. Vishesh assisted Solomon to increase their lead and Solomon got another two in transition to put Bengaluru up 100-89 as they pulled away to a 104-94 win for their first win of the season
Players of the game: Chris Solomon (International), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Indian)
Bengaluru Beast (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 32 pts, Chris Solomon 31 pts, Palpreet Brar 27 pts) btHyderabad Sky 104-94 (Tevin Kelly 29 pts, Mak Boskailo 20 pts, Mahesh Padmanabhan 17 pts)