Golden Gate beat Premier 83-65 to avenge its defeat in the league round, while Prime overpowered Morgan 49-27 in the final played at the covered hall of the Dasharath Stadium. With the victories, both the teams have set new records in Nepali basketball.[break]
In the final of men´s category, Golden Gate took the first period 23-17 which set the foundation for its victory. Premier was without its key player Sadish Pradhan in the first period. With Pradhan´s entry in the second period, Premier won the second period 17-13 to cut the lead of Golden Gate to two points.
After half time too, Premier continued its comeback in the game and took the third period 18-17 to cut the lead to a single point. Golden Gate was four points behind Premier and staring at defeat with five minutes remaining in the period, but a two-pointer from Sushil Gurung tied the game at 48-48 with a minute and half remaining.
Paresh Shrestha´s two-pointer then put Golden Gate in front but it could not maintain the lead for long as Binod Shrestha tied the game with a two-pointer. Rabindra Maharjan netted a three-pointer to give Golden Gate a three-point advantage, but a two-pointer from Yukta Bhakta Mathema at the end of the third period again narrowed the gap to one point.
Golden Gate dominated the fourth period scoring 30-13 to take the match beyond Premier´s reach.
Rabindra Maharjan was the hero for Golden Gate as he scored 31 points and had six assists to his name. Paresh Shrestha took 10 offensive and defensive rebounds along with five assists for the team. Bipendra Maharjan took six rebounds and provides 10 assists. Binod Shrestha was the highest scorer for Premier with 21 points while Bikram Joshi took 11 rebounds.
Bhanu Kapali, former player and coach of Golden Gate, said he was happy with the win as it was a sweet revenge against Premier. "This is my biggest achievement with the team," Kapali said, adding that senior players Bipendra and Rabindra gave their best for the win. "Our defense and shooting were in the best form which helped us to complete a hat-trick in the national championship."
In the final of women´s category, Prime took all the four periods for its third title in the national championship. Prime won the first period 12-9 and the second 15-7 to take a lead of 11 points by half time.
Prime continued its dominance in the match and took the remaining periods 12-6 and 10-5 respectively. Nayana Shakya and Alisha Ghale scored a combined 30 points for the team. Shakya scored 16 points while Ghale scored 14.
After the win, Prime´s coach Bikash Shahi said he was elated to complete a title hat-trick in national basketball. "We had not expected the final to be easy but our players performed well," he said, adding, "Morgan´s strong outside shooting did not work and our defense was good."
Rabindra Maharjan of Golden Gate received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the men´s category for his outstanding performance during the championship. Alisha Ghale of Prime Club was adjudged the MVP in the women´s category. Both the MVPs received Rs 15,000 each along with trophies and gift hampers.
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