KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 14

Kirtipur Municipality and Dream Team began the Lama Tendi Sherpa Memorial Basketball Championship campaign with easy wins in men's category here at the NSC covered hall today.

Kirtipur defeated Bishal Milan Kendra 95-69 in the opening match of the tournament organised by Nepal Basketball Association to pay tribute to its former president Lama Tendi Sherpa.

Kirtipur dominated the match and took all four quarters riding on 24 points from Soman Maharjan.

Kirtipur took the first quarter 25-21 and extended the lead to nine points winning the second period 23- 18. Kirtipur won the third quarter 24-16 and took the fourth one 23-14. Milan Malla of BMK top scored in the match netting 29 points but he was not able to avert his team's loss.

In another match, Dream Team beat Shanker Dev Campus 83-48 riding in 31 points from Sujan Maharjan.

Dream Team also won all four quarters to record the dominating victory. After taking the first quarter 15-14, Dream Team extended the lead to 11 points in the second period winning it 23-13. Dream Team scored 32 points in the third quarter and added 13 in the final, while Shanker Dev managed 21 after half time.

Rajesh Thakuri contributed 16 for Shanker Dev.

In women's section, Royal Basketball Academy edge past Lalitpur High 48-39.

Royal opened the game with 14-10 lead in the first quarter before both the sides netted nine points each in the second period.

Lalitpur took the third quarter 12-8 to level the scores at 31-all, while Royal bounced back strongly in the final quarter taking it 17-8 to seal the victory. Pratikchhya Magar of Royal top scored with 17 points, while Muna Maharjan of Lalitpur High contributed 15.

A total of 13 teams are taking part in the men's section, while five teams are competing in women's category.

Earlier, Lama Pasang Sherpa and Nawang Nima Lama - father and brother of Lama Tendi Sherpa respectively - inaugurated the 11-day tournament. Top two teams in both categories will receive Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively, while the MVPs will get Rs 10,000 each.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.