Thrilling win for Ranawana Securities
Ranawana Securities scored a fighting 47-46 victory over National Development Bank (NDB) in the Men’s ‘C’ Division semifinal of the 12th Mercantile Services Basketball Association organised ‘Ram Ratnavel Memorial’ Knockout Basketball Tournament 2018, at the Henry Pedris Basketball Complex.
NDB trailing 16-23 at halftime, came back strongly in the final stages but missed out playing in the finals by just 1 point. Fawshan Nilamdeen was outstanding for the losers, and was their top scorer.
In the second semifinal of the same Division, Seylan Bank had an easy passage into the finals with a 66-38 win over Nations Trust Bank (NTB). Seylan Bank led 28-17 at halftime. Dion Muthukumarana played a tireless game scoring 15 points for the winners.
Finals: Ranawana Securities vs Seylan Bank
Virtusa qualified for the finals of the Men’s ‘D’ Division with a hard fought 47-42 extra time win over MAS ‘B’. In this close encounter the scores stood level at 42-42 at the final whistle. In extra time Virtisa scored 5 points with MAS ‘B’ found wanting.
Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) were the other finalist in the same Division, with a 51-45 win over David Pieris Motor Company (DPMC) in the 2nd semifinals.
Results
Men’s ‘C’ Division Semifinals
- Ranawana Securities- 47 beat NDB Bank- 46
Player of the Match: Abidaran Sundaramoorthi (Ranawana Securities)
Ranawana Securities (Abidaran Sundaramoorthi 13, Asitha Rajapaksha 11, Sameera Sandaruwan 10)
NDB Bank (Fawshan Nilamdeen 23, Jude Akila 12, Amalika Mendis 
- Seylan Bank- 66 beat NTB- 38
Player of the Match: Dion Muthukumarana (Seylan Bank)
Seylan Bank (Dion Muthukumarana 15, Naveen Bandara 13, Gayan Samaraweera 9)
NTB (Rukshan Fernando 18, Christy Krishanthan 6)
Men’s ‘D’ Division Semifinals
- Virtusa- 47 beat MAS ‘B’- 42 in Extra time
Player of the Match: Dilka Sirimanne (Virtusa)
Virtusa (Dilka Sirimanne 11, Kasun Madusanka 10, Sheron Logitharajah 10)
MAS ‘B’ (Azeem Ameen 21, Chandika Ariyaratne 9)
- HSBC- 51 beat DPMC- 45
Player of the Match: Promoth Weerasinghe (HSBC)
HSBC (Promoth Weerasinghe 16, Praveen Perera 10, Shenuka De Silva 7)
DPMC (Nalaka Kumarasinghe 16, Jagath Kulatunga 14, Thanushka Wanigaratne 11)
Men’s ‘E’ Division 2nd Round
- Dialog Axiata ‘B’- 48 beat MAS Holdings ‘C’- 19
Player of the Match: Chandu Jayawardene (Dialog Axiata ‘B’
Dialog Axiata ‘B’ (Chandu Jayawardene 12, Anjana Withanage 6, Roshan Zoysa 6)
MAS Holdings ‘C’ (Navin Perera 6)