LALITPUR: Royal Sports Central won the title of the first Royal Nationwide U-23 Men’s Basketball Tournament here on Tuesday.

The hosts defeated Times 62-59 in the final match riding on 20 points from Nikesh Magar, who was later declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He earned gift hamper worth Rs 10,000.

Royal trailed by eight points going into the final quarter and they bounced back strongly to win the last period 20-9 to complete the victory. Along with the trophy, Royal received Rs 50,000.

General Secretary of Nepal Basketball Association Narendra Thapa and chief coach Dinesh Chandra Nakarmi among other handed over the prizes to the winners. A total of nine teams took part in the league-cum-knockout tournament organised by RSC, which is run by national team members Rabin Khatri and Binod Maharjan along with coach Nripesh Shrestha.