KOCHI (Kerala), Tuesday, 18 th October 2022: INBL 5x5 Season 1, Round 1 action continued on Day 2 at the Regional Sports Centre in the city.
After losing to Mumbai Titans in their opening game day before yesterday, Bengaluru Kings recorded their first win, a 109-106 double overtime triumph over Delhi Dribblers.
Just like Bengaluru, Delhi too was searching for its first win, and the intensity of the game was palpable from tip off. Neither team led by more than 7 points, with the game seeing 19 lead changes.
Twice in the game, at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime, Bengaluru Kings came from behind to tie the game. Ultimately, shooting guard Anil Kumar B K, who has also represented India, scored three consecutive points late in the second overtime, to seal the three-point victory.
In other results, Chandigarh Warriors entered the winners column, beating Mumbai Titans in a lopsided, 101-72, contest. Warriors’ captain Palpreet Singh Brar took matters into his own hands, with his second straight double double of 28 points and 10 rebounds. What made Brar’s performance even more impressive was that he was on the floor for less than 29 minutes. So ineffect, he was scoring a point a minute.
Meanwhile, hometown Kochi Tigers went 2-0, condemning Chennai Heat to their first loss of the season.
INBL 5x5 Season 1 Round 1 {Kochi} Results (17-10-22)
1. Chandigarh Warriors (Palpreet Singh Brar 28 pts & 10 reb, Arvinder Singh 15 pts,Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu 13 pts) bt Mumbai Titans (Vivek Goti 18 pts & 9 reb, Shaun Aranjo 14 pts & 7 reb, Sameer Qureshi 12 pts & 7 ast) 101-72 [25-17, 19-18, 29-22, 28-15]
2. Bengaluru Kings (Arvind Arumugam 23 pts & 17 reb, Pratyanshu Tomar 17 pts & 14 reb, Anil Kumar B K 22 pts, Manoj B M 20 pts) bt Delhi Dribblers (Rishabh Mathur 23pts, Gaurav Chandel 21 pts, Mahipal Singh 17 pts) 109-106 [20-17, 14-22, 26-21, 25-25,12-12 (OT 1), 12-9 (OT 2)]
3. Kochi Tigers (Sarath A S 19 pts & 13 reb, Sejin Mathew 18 pts & 14 reb) bt Chennai Heat (A Surya 18 pts & 9 reb, M Arvind Kumar 17 pts & 9 reb) 78-73 [19-19, 26-21, 19-13, 14-20]