India are South Asian basketball champions

India clinched the third South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) championship here Sunday outclassing all its four South Asian rivals in the regional meet.

On final day, the Indian squad thrashed Maldives 108-32, confirming their regional domination to finish top of the table with highest eight points from four unbeaten outings. Hosts Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were the other participating nations.

Maldives finished second, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh third and fourth, respectively, while Nepal were fifth.

With the victory, India also qualified for the Asian Basketball Cup to be held in Wuhan, China in July. The Indian team has also qualified for FIBA Asian Championship.

In the title clash against Maldives, India dominated the field in all the quarters except for the final period which ended in a 13-13 tie. India opened with 35-10 lead and took the second quarter 29-6 before hammering 31-3 in the third period. Prakash Mishra of Indian team top scored with 16 points, while Pashwaane Ibrahim netted 12 for Maldives.

India coach Scott Flemming was proud of his team that won the title convincingly.

"Though it was lopsided match today, our boys played with intensity. They came out charging up, defended quite well and the offence was good as well. I am proud that we won the tournament," said Flemming adding it had taken a huge effort from everyone in winning the title.

"We developed a system and struck to it, which helped us achieve a comfortable win in the tournament," Flemming added.