FIBA U-16 Asia Cup: India fall 95-73 to Lebanon in tournament opener

Nagpur: Indian cagers did well to boost their morale in the early part of their tournament opener, but threw in the towel late in the second half, allowing Lebanon to post a 95-73 victory in the FIBA Asia Cup U-16 Championship, which began at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Sunday. Despite trailing 34-40 at halftime, India not only brought parity but took a 45-43 lead in the third minute after the change of ends. Though India maintained that advantage for the next two minutes, they failed to handle Lebanon’s pressure defence and faltered, losing the third quarter 19-21. This allowed their higher-ranked opponents to regain the momentum with an eight-point cushion (61-53). In the last quarter, Lebanon came out all guns blazing, scoring from all corners to clinch the same 34-20 and register a thumping 22-point victory. For India, Shekhar Rathee (19), Arman (14), Ansh Tomer (12), and Krishna Suneriya (10) scored in double digits.