New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS): Chennai Heat secured a hard fought 77-65 victory over the Punjab Warriors InBl Pro U25 at the Thyagraj Indoor Stadium on Tuesday. Keith Kiner posted 19 points in the game and came up clutch in the last quarter to help the Chennai Heat secure the win in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Indian national basketball player Arvinder Singh and Shakem Johnson contributed to the victory with 14 points each.
Chennai Heat began the game with solid defensive display as Deepak Choudhary and Shakem Johnson protected their basket from the Warriors’ attempts in the paint. After over two minutes of play, Arvinder Singh broke the deadlock in Heat’s favour with a three pointer. And Shakem Johnson converted two freethrows in the next play to further solidiy heat’s lead. However, Punjab Warriors’ Lucas Barker hit a wide open three in transition to get his team off the mark and start an intense back and forth battle. In the last minute of the quarter, Arvinder Singh scored a long two from the corner to end the first quarter 18-16 in the Heat’s favour.
Arvind Kumar scored a three pointer to maintain the Heat’s narrow lead, as the second quarter commenced. And, in the minutes that followed, Shakem and Arvinder scored to keep the Heat ahead in the face of immense pressure from the Warriors. Although, Gurbaz Singh and Samuel Taane combined to give Warriors the lead with two minutes left in the half. However, Tad Dufelmeier and Keith Kiner stepped up for the Heat, scoring two consecutive three pointers and snatching the lead to end the first half with a 39-37 scoreline.
It stayed end to end after the break with the Heat holding onto their two point lead. However, the Warriors’ Stokley Chaffee pulled out a slick turn table and layup to equalise and Lucas Barker scored from the line to snatch the lead again halfway through the quarter. The Heat went on to battle on the defensive end while Arvinder Singh scored a triple and followed it up by a free throw conversion to regain the lead. While, Shakem Johnson converted two free throws to consolidate the Heat’s lead while they continued to be solid in defence. Keith Kiner stepped up with a three pointer to give the first double digit lead of the game heading into the last quarter.
The Punjab Warriors were fierce in the beginning of the final quarter to cut the lead by four points, however, the Heat regained their footing through Arvinder Singh’s long two pointer. The Warriors’ Taane Samuel started making his mark below the ring to try and reduce the deficit but they were unable to stop the Heat from scoring on the other end. Stokley Chafee featured with a couple of dunks in transition to reduce the Heat’s lead to four points with three minutes left and give the Warriors a ray of hope.
Although, Keith Kiner seized the game scoring a crucial contested three pointer and coming up with a steal as the game head to a close, helping the Heat cruise to a 77-65 victory.