DPMC in 41-21 victory

Sanjaya Ariyaratne

BASKETBALL: David Peiris Motor Company women's team trounced SriLankan Airlines by 41 points to 21 after leading by 20 points to four at the breather in the Mercantile Basketball Tournament played at Otters courts, recently.

Shalika Gomes and Kalpani Fernando with eight points apiece found the basket for the winners while Sashi de Silva (9) and Manori Hettiarachchi (8) did well for the losers.

Dialog Telekom (B) posted a thrilling 39 points to 36 win over Ceylinco Group in a men's `D' division match. At the short whistle the scores stood at 13 points to 23 with Ceylinco taking the lead. Ruzni Hameed (11) and Mafaz Mohideen (9) were the best shooters for Dialog while Dilan Sameera (13) and Nuwan Costa (10) were the chief scorers for the losers.

Ranawana Group beat Amana Group by 80 points to 76. Amana were leading 41 points to 38 at the breather. Vimukthi Udayakumara (16) and Sidath Senanayake (15) were the best players for the winners while Rajeeva Karunaratne (14) and Romesh Mihiraj (13) were the main scorers for the losers.

DFCC Bank (B) routed MAS Holdings (B) by 48 points to 28 after being ahead 25 points to 9 at half time. Nirmal Fernando (17) and Yasantha Rajapakse (11) did well for DFCC while Madula Dissanayake (7) and Indika Jayaweera (5) were the top scorers for MAS.

Nations Trust Bank defeated Sri Lankan Airlines by 68 points to 47 after taking a 38 points to 21 lead at the breather.

Manjula Jayaratne (18) and Charitha Kulawardane (16) top scored for the winners while for the losers Akash Anthony (17) and Sanjeewa Wanasekara (10) were the best scorers.

Nations Trust Bank (B) overcame Mobitel by 49 points to 24 when the half time scores read 24 points to 11 at the breather. Thilina de Silva (13) and Suranga Palliyaguru (7) were the chief scorers for the winners while Sanjeewa Perera (9) and Heshan Warnakulasuriya (7) were the main scorers for Mobitel.

HSBC had the better of Ceylinco Group by 57 points 29 in a men's C division fixture after gaining a 31 points to 24 lead at the half time. Andrew Wijesuriya (18) and Waran Cruze (14) were the best shooters for HSBC while Dilan Sameera (10) and Nuwan Costa (9) did well for Ceylinco.

Amana Group beat MAS (A) by 77 points to 71. The half time scores read 41 points to 38 in favour of Amana. Mohomed Fawshan (28) and Roshan Samidon (17) were the main scorers for the winners while Eranga Weerasinghe (22) and Chandimal Edirisinghe (16) were the outstanding players for MAS.

DFCC Bank beat Eagle Insurance by a close 43 points to 40 when the scores were deadlocked 24 all at the breather. Mohomed Nizar (16) and Nalindra Sampath (13) were the best shooters for DFCC while Sumith Perera (14) and Asanga Amaratunga (10) were the top players for the losers.

Mobitel crushed SriLankan Airlines (B) by 40 points to 20 after leading 24 points to 18 at the breather. Rukshan Perera and Sanjeewa Perera with 11 points each were the best scorers for Mobitel while Sashika Perera and Udaya Ratnasiri with 6 points each were the main scorers for the losers.

Seylan Bank beat Ceylinco in an exciting 47 points 46 in a men's `C' division match. Ceylinco dominated the half time score at 23 points to 17. Gayan Sameera (16) and Anosha Ratnayake (8) were the top scorers for Seylan while Nuwan Costa (16) and Dilan Sameera (12) played well for Ceylinco.

Sampath Bank were last year's `A' division champions while Delmege finished as runners up. Seylan Bank were the women's `A' division winners while their closest rivals Hatton National Bank ended up as runners up.

Nations Trust Bank bagged the `B' division title while Akbar Brothers who are in the `A' division fray this time were placed second last time.