Lalitpur, September 10

Prime College and Golden Gate International College advanced to the semi-finals of the Ncell U-18 Inter-college Basketball Tournament here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex on Thursday.

In the first quarter-final match, Prime edged past Learning Realm International College 59-54 riding on Sashi Parajuli’s 19 points. Prime opened with a narrow one-point lead in the first quarter when they won it 12-11 before LRI bounced back to take the second period 12-4 to open up a seven-point advantage.

Prime reduced the deficit to six points by winning the third period 15-14 and hit back in the fourth and final quarter scoring 28 points, while LRI managed 17. Prahlad Basnet of Prime was adjudged the best player of the match. Prime will face Golden Gate International College, who recorded a comprehensive 64-41 victory over GEMS College in the last quarter-final match of the tournament.

Golden Gate dominated the match from the beginning and never looked back. They opened with a 16-10 lead in the first quarter and extended the advantage to 13 points as they took the second period 18-11. Golden Gate recorded identical 15-10 wins in the third and fourth quarters to register an easy win. Khukhen Lama of Golden Gate top scored in the match with 15 points that also earned him the best player’s award.

The other semi-final match pits Liverpool College and Morgan International College. The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, while the championship match is on Saturday.

The tournament is organised by Ncell under the auspices of Nepal Basketball Association.