Police win in hard fought battle

By Lal Gunesekera

BASKETBALL: Police scored a hard fought 82 points to 78 win over Wennappuwa BC after leading 41-32 at half time in their Colombo Super League Championship Men's 'A' Division game of the Colombo District Basketball Association (CDBA) at the Depot Police courts.

Sujith Master (29), Gazali Razack (19) and Vajira Kumarasinghe (15) were the match winners for the Police, while Malinda Fernando (21), Anton Niroshan (13) and Chalinda Fernando (10) were the best for Wennappuwa.

In a Men's 'C' Division game, Colombo University beat Annites 68-44 after leading 31-23 at half time with Roven Muthalip (27) and M. A. Wijesiriwardene (15) being the top scorers for the undergrads, while Rusiri Ratnatunga (11), Dammika Perera (9) and Anthony de Silva (9), were the pick for Annites.

Cavaliers beat Police 'B' 54-49 in a close tussle after leading 32-18 at half time with Kumara Nalinda (16), Priyantha Karunaratne (12) and A. Rohana (7) being the top scorers for Cavaliers, while for Police 'B' W. A. Janaka (19) was the main scorer. This was a Men's 'C' Division game, while in another 'C' Division game, Kandy Cagers beat Colombo International School (CIS) 59-51 in yet another close confrontation with Maduranga Munasinghe (14), Nirmitha Weerasekera (13) and Lakshitha Abeyratne (13) turning out to be the match winners, while Rahaman Cader(15) and Hisham Cader (14) were the best for CIS.

Otters beat Police 75-61 after being led 31-32 at the half time in a Men's 'A' Division game with Shanaka Perera (19), Gayan Meedeniya (18) and M. K. Shiran (10) being the top scorers, while Sujith Master (24), Vajira Kumarasinghe (14) and Gazali Razack (10) doing their best for Police.

Moratuwa BC beat Hawks 77-49 after leading 39-22 at half time in a Men's 'C' Division game with Rochana Fernando (26), Sameera Fernando (18) and Kevin Bennet (18) the top scorers for Moratuwa, while Nipuna Samarakoon (20) and Muaz Mohamed (11) fared well for Black Hawks.

David Pieris Motor Company had an easy 104-71 win over Bohra SC after leading 57-48 at half time. Sudantha Laksiri (17), Dilshan Bharathi (15) and Prageeth Premaratne (14) top scored for DPMC, while the best for Bohra Qureshi Hussain (45), though Ali Asgerally (12) and Abdul Azeez (10) too did their best. This was another Men's 'C' Division match.

In another Men's 'C' Division game, Colombo Stallions beat University of Kelaniya 68-14 after leading 40-5 at half time with Gerald Jacobs (26) and Richard Sandrasagara (11) being the main scorers.

Colombo BC too had an easy 92-62 win over Wennappuwa BC after leading 57-39 at the breather in a Men's 'A' Division game where Jagath Kulathunga (29), Mithila Abeysekera (17), Roshan Randima (19), Chamath Danawansa (15) and Rasika Prabath (10) among the top scorers, while for wennappuwa, Malinda Fernando (26), was the main scorer.

Defending champions Track Masters beat Paulians 83-41 after leading 34-22 at the breather in a Women's 'A' Division match. Kumarine Silva (25), Sashikala Liyanage (20) and Shanali Weerasuriya (13) did most of the scoring for Track Masters, while Shasi de Silva (8) and Priyamali Dharmaratne (8) did their best for Paulians.