The all-time legends Otters taking on Sri Lankan Air Force was an eye catching moment for Basketball fans. Having an equally effective start, Otters and Air force were head to head at 17 -19 by the end of the first quarter.
First to get on the score board was SL Air Force with a shot scored by G. Silva. In Reply D Rebert’s attempt to score a three pointer failed allowing the Air Force to add another two points on to the total. With the score moving back and forth from that point onwards the first three-pointer of the match was scored by R. Dangoda of SL Air Force. At the end of the first quarter SL Air Force was very tactful with four substitutions to save the best for the next quarter of the match.
Taking off the pressure otters was able to make up for the missing points by settling the scores at 21 early on in the second quarter. But from that point onwards SL Air Force did not allow Otters to score anything but a single free-throw till Air Force made it to 31 points. This came down to a huge disadvantage of Otters; they could not make up for the lost points in the whole game. Towards the end of the second quarter, the lead by SL Air Force Increased to 11 points while the total scores were 39-28 in favor of the Air Force.
The third quarter was a whole new game plan with many more attempts on three pointers for Otters. They were able to bring down the point margin down to 7, but it was not good enough. For example, D. Rebert was only able to make one three pointer out of the 12 he attempted. With increasing pressure and the weariness of players the long shots were not an efficient solution. Not surprisingly, the third quarter was also dominated by SL Air Force with 54 points while Otters were 8 points behind at 46.
SL Air Force’s investment with substitutions early on came to play in the fourth quarter. Though high in the total number of fouls, distributed among all the players, Air Force had a strategic approach. The final score was a combination of all these; an immense lead of 17 points to a final total of 75 points. With I. Hishams turnover pass not working out, Otters were stuck at 58 while the point gap increased in favor of Air Force.
