Defending champion Uttarakhand beat Kerala 85-45 in a men's Group A clash in the 68th Senior National Basketball Championship at Nehru Indoor Stadium here today. Uttarakhand started strongly and took the first quarter 22-8 before Kerala fought back in the second. The reigning champions then upped the ante and stormed ahead with some impressive play. The win was never in doubt as Uttarkhand never loosened the grip and wrapped up the match with a huge margin. In Group 'B', Tamil Nadu men continued their winning run, beating a strong Indian Railways 95-85. A Aravind was the main scorer for the home side, with 23 points as they maintained a lead from the start. In other matches, Punjab secured a comfortable 101-57 victory over Haryana while Karnataka breezed past Odisha 78-40 in Group A. While Tawinder Singh was the top scorer from Punjab with 18 points, Ankit had 15 points for the losing team. However, the Railways women had things their way as they steamrolled Telangana 105-30. The Railway women were at their dominant and scored heavily in the second and third quarters as their rivals struggled to contain them. Meanwhile, the defending champion in the women's event - Kerala, notched up another win, beating the host Tamil Nadu 69-53 in Group A. The team has bounced back after suffering a shock loss at the hands of Karnataka to beat Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu today. Jeena led the way for Kerala with 17 points while V Srividhya scored 16 points for the home team. In a Women's Group 'B' encounter, Maharashtra beat Rajasthan 82-71, overcoming a wobble in the second quarter.
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