New Delhi, Feb 9
The Gujarat Stallions secured their first victory of the season, beating Punjab Warriors 83-76 in the InBl Pro U25 at the Thyagraj Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Trendon Hankerson kept the Stallions in the game with his 24 points and 5 assists in the game while Jock Perry came up clutch in the second half, registering a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to help the Stallions get over the line.
Gujarat, looking for their first win of the league with Indian team point guard Sahaij Sekhon also making his first appearance for the Stallions, started an electric three point battle through Prince Tyagi, Trendon Hankerson, and Amarendra Nayak. But the Warriors' Vaisakh Manoj and Lucas Barker responded in kind to keep up with the Stallions. Towards the end of the quarter, Gurbaz Sandhu converted an uncontested three to grant the Warriors a slender two point lead.
The three-point battle intensified in the second quarter as the Punjab Warriors wasted no time extending their lead to six, courtesy of Lucas Barker. However, Trendon Hankerson responded with a four-point play after being fouled beyond the arc, while Gurbaz Sandhu found his rhythm from deep, bringing the Warriors back on level terms. Both teams caught fire from beyond the arc, trading blows in a high-scoring shootout, leaving the scores deadlocked at halftime.
Both teams shored up on the defensive end as the third quarter began. Amarendra Nayak continued to have the hot hand, sinking a wide open three and Trendon Hankerson made a layup in traffic to open an eight point lead for the Stallions. But Lucas Barker and Uche Dibiamaka found baskets to make up the difference soon after and both teams ended the quarter scoring just 12 points each.
It remained a close contest as the fourth quarter began but Trendon Hankerson made a couple of good plays to keep the baskets rolling for the Stallions and helped open a seven point lead halfway through the quarter. The Warriors, over the foul limit with three minutes left in the quarter, were under pressure as they were unable to stop Jock Perry in the paint and close the gap. However, Jock Perry was fouled out soon after and the Warriors attempted to dominate the paint but the Stallions remained to be a cohesive unit on defence and secured a 83-76 victory.
- IANS