In a back and forth encounter, Hyderabad Sky overcame a balanced attack from Chennai Slam as they won by 83-79 in a UBA Season 4 match at the Satyabhama University in Chennai.
Chennai started with a lineup of Agu, Ram Kumar, Cammy, Rikin Pethani and Jairam Jat. They faced Hyderabad’s starting five of Mahesh Padmanabhan, Tevin Kelly, Mak Boskailo, Joginder Singh and Manu Thomas.
Playing in front of their home crowd, Chennai raced to a 5-0 lead behind quick conversions from Cammy and Rikin. Hyderabad tied the game at 7 behind Tevin Kelly halfway into the quarter. Telly drew the second foul on Agu but the latter stayed on the court. Joginder halted Chennai’s run with a three and Kelly ended the first quarter with a buzzer beating three as Chennai led Hyderabad 19-17 to end the first quarter.
Kelly opened the second quarter with a flying layup to tie the game at 19. Ashutosh came out firing in the second quarter, connecting on his first two jumpers for Chennai. Mahesh hit a three to give Hyderabad a 36-35 lead, then he quickly stole the ball to get two more. Kelly converted an and-one to give Hyderabad a 41-40 lead at the end of the second quarter.
Chennai hustled hard as a team and moved the ball around well as they had 12 assists on 18 made field goals in the first half. They also out-rebounded Hyderabad 29-16 in the first half.
Chennai opened the second half by rotating the ball for good looks and Hyderabad responded with a couple of buckets from Kelly and Mahesh. Neither team could open up a comfortable lead as the momentum shifted regularly in the tight contest. The teams exchanged leads as Hyderabad pulled away to a slim 67-63 lead over Chennai at the end of the third quarter. Besides Mahesh, Kelly and Joginder, no other player for Hyderabad had more than 5 points through the first three quarters.
Chennai opened the fourth quarter by charging ahead to tie the game at 67 as they went for easy baskets in the open court. Hyderabad tied the game at 73 off a putback from Mak Boskailo. Kelly’s three pointer with 5:10 left gave Hyderabad a three-point lead and Mahesh streaked inside to extend the lead to five. Cammy answered for Chennai but Manu dropped in two from up close to extend Hyderabad’s lead to 82-75. Ram Kumar hit a long two to bring Chennai within 83-77, but they failed to comeback as Hyderabad won 83-79.
The Result
Hyderabad Sky (Tevin Kelly 37 points, Mahesh Padmanabhan 17, Joginder Singh 11) bt Chennai Slam 83-79 (Rikin Pethani 27, Ram Kumar 21, Cammy 13). Players of the game: Tevin Kelly (International), Joginder Singh (International)
