Mar Ivanious, Trivandrum,March 1-The third day of 57th Mar Ivanious Trophy saw the home team claiming their spots in the finals. Both men’s and women’s team of Ivanious assured their berths in the final clash. SB College, Changanassery will face Ivanious in the men’s final while St Joseph’s , Irinjalakkuda will meet the home team in women’s final on Friday.

In the highly anticipated semi final clashes on Thursday, Mar Ivanios beat Indian Naval Academy by a score line 78-35. The match was a one sided affair as the home team dominated Naval Academy throughout the four quarters. The presence of international player Sejin Mathew added to the advantage of an already talented Ivanious side. Naval Academy who reached semi finals with the confidence of beating Govt Arts College and Nehru college in the knock out matches couldn’t handle an Ivanious side who played professionally.  Sejin Mathew anchored the Ivanious attack scoring 19 points while Moosa Ashraf and Sharath Krishna scored 16 points each. The well organized defense of Ivanious made the life difficult for Naval Academy players as Ivanious denied the scoring chances of Naval players successfully. 

In another Men’s semi final SB College, Changanassery beats KE College, Mannanam by a score line of 78-57. KE College who played brilliant basketball throughout the tournament, but couldn’t replicate their impressive form against SB College-one of the top seeded college teams in Kerala. 

In the women’s semi final match, Mar Ivanious down SN college, Kannur by a score line of 71-49.Sree Kala and Mahima of home team continued their imperious form from the first match to convert every opportunity into scoring baskets.SN College couldn’t cope with the speedy counter attacks launched by Sreekala and slowly lost their confidence over the four quarters.

In the other semi final clash, St Joseph’s, Irinjalakkuda defeated SES College, Sreekandapuram by a score line of 77-48 to set up a final clash with the home team on Friday.