Basketball: Mercantile Knockout Tournament sets off

The 11th edition of the Mercantile Services Basketball Association Knockout Tournament 2016, played for the Ram Ratnavale Memorial Challenge Trophy, got underway at the Henry Pedris Sports Complex. 

The tournament has 34 Men's Teams, pooled into five divisions and seven Women's Teams, pooled into two divisions, comprising 27 matches; and the Finals scheduled for May 18, 19 and 20 at the same venue. 

Match Results: (April 25 and 27) 

Men's Division 'D': Softlogic beat WS02 , 66/44, after leading 28/20 at half time; the scorers for the Winners were A. Perera (20) and L. Madusanka (16); R. de Silva (25) and S. Mohamed (12) scored for the losers. 

Men's Division 'D': Debutants, Hirdaramani Group scored an upset 46/41 win over Amana Bank; Amana Bank led 22/20 at half time; the top shooters for Hirdaramani were, S. Angelo (18), O. Kannangara (10); M. Najith (15) and G. Karunatillake (13) scored for the losers. 

Women's Division 'A': Commercial Credit & Finance PLC beat David Pieris Motor Co., 85/23, after leading 45/9 at half time; PC Fonseka (25) and E. Rajapakse (25) scored the bulk of the points for the winners. 

Men's Division 'C': Commercial Credit & Finance PLC became the first team to go over the century mark, as they beat David Pieris Motor Co. by 104 points to 92, after leading 52/36 at half time; A. Dewruwan (35), A. Dilan (26) and L. Perera (22) played an outstanding game for the winners, while T. Wanigaratne (27), A. de Silva (22) and N. Kumarasinghe (17), played their hearts out for DPM.