Tamil Nadu men in national basketball finals

Pratham Singh and S. Venkatesh were once again amongst the points as Tamil Nadu edged Services 92-85 to move into the men's finals of the 64th National Basketball Championships here Tuesday.

India international Pratham put in another clinical performance bagging 28 points and was ably assisted by Venkatesh, who finished with 22 points. Joginder Singh and Jairam scored 18 points apiece while Gopal Ram chipped in with 15.

Tamil Nadu, who have been the in-form team of the tournament having won all their matches, took a 21-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. They completely dominated the second, scoring 34 points to their opponents' 17.

Complacency, however, seemed to set in the Tamil Nadu camp as Services shaded the third quarter 19-16. With the score 71-55 in favour of Tamil Nadu at the end of the third quarter, Services still trailed by 16 points.

In a thrilling finish to the game, Services, who upset Railways in the quarters, outscored Tamil Nadu 30-21 in the last quarter almost pulling off another surprise win.

Tamil Nadu held on for a place in the final where they will face the winner of the other semi-final between Uttarakhand and Punjab.