KATHMANDU, June 26: NASA won the men´s title of the First Morgan Cup National Club Level Basketball Championship on Wednesday.
NASA edged past White House 98-83 in the final played at the National Sports Council Covered Hall. Joel Debortoli scored 32 points in the final to seal the victory for NASA.
Rishi Robertson scored 40 points alone for White House but it was not sufficient to avoid defeat.
White House was leading 50-44 at the end of the second quarter but Joel Debortoli, who was adjudged the most valuable player of the championship, turned the match around in the third quarter. NASA scored 21 points in the first quarter against 20 scored by White House. [break]
In the second quarter, Robertson scored 20 points for White House to establish a good lead. However, Joel inspired a NASA fightback in the third quarter scoring 12 points alone. NASA took the third quarter 25-14 and continued its dominance in the fourth quarter as well with the score of 29-19 to lift the title.
NASA received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 along with the trophy while White House received 15,000.
NASA captain Binod Shrestha applauded teammates Joel and Victor Olmos for NASA´s success. Joel, a player from the USA, had scored 33 points against Gurukul and 31 points against Golden Gate before the final. "Joel and Victor are good players. We not only won the title but also learnt things in their presence," said Shrestha.
White House captain Rishi Robertson said that his team suffered defeat as they failed to stop Joel and Victor. "We put up a good show but failed to stop the two good players of NASA," said Robertson, who became the highest scorer of the championship.
National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama gave away the prizes to the winners.
Prime will face Gurukul in the final of the women´s section on Thursday.