Kathmandu, April 27

Tribhuvan Army Club defeated defending champions Golden Gate International Club 104-96 in the opening match of the Kwik’s Nepal Basketball League here today.

The first edition runners-up, TAC dominated the match from the first quarter and never looked back in their away match.

The departmental side took a 25-14 lead in the first period and extended the lead to 21 points before the half time.

TAC won the third quarter 25-14 and took the final period 27-23 to register comprehensive victory. Most Valuable Player of the match, Ram Krishna Ghotane top scored for TAC with 17 points and collected 10 rebounds.

In the day’s second match, Times International Club registered a 96-61 victory over Nepal Police Club in their home match.

Time won all four quarters to dominate the match.

The home team opened with 18-13 lead and netted 26 points in the second quarter restricting NPC to just 12.

In the third quarter, Times scored 30 and NPC earned 20, while the home team led 22-16 in the final quarter. Skipper Sadish Pradhan, who is also the national team captain, led from the front scoring 42 points alone with the help of six threepointers and he was declared the MVP.

In all, eight teams are taking part in the biggest tournament of the country that features a total of 68 matches in 55 days. The teams will play against each other twice in the home and away format and the top four sides will make it to the playoffs.

The winners and runners-up will receive Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.