Indian cagers suffer second successive defeat, go down to Scotland

Melbourne, Mar 19 (UNI) India put up a much better show before going down to Scotland 57-67 in their second league match in the men's Basketball competition of the Comonwealth Games here today.

India, handed a 84-113 defeat by Nigeria in their opening match, will now play host Australia in the last league assignment.

Meanwhile, though the Indian basketball teams are here to get exposure in a run up to the 2010 Delhi Games, according to media reports here today, this may be the first and last time that Basketball is played in the Games.

The reports say that India was interested in including Cricket and Snooker or Tennis in the 2010 Games and Basketball will pave way for one of these two events.

Back to the court, the Indians played well and matched their rivals in speed and marksmanship. Riyazuddin was again their spearhead and he got good support from skipper Trideep Rai and Talwinderjeet Singh.

The Indians allowed the Scots to take advantage and lead in the first two quarters and by the time they regrouped themselves, it was too late.

The tall and sturdy Scots were no great shakes as players but they were fit and had a stamina to last long on the court. They covered the court well though their marking and scoring also left much to be desired. Dan Wardrope (21) and Tom Pearson (15) were their main scorers.

Riyazudin once again top scored for India with 20 points while Trideep Rai chipped in 11 and Tawlwinder Singh contributed nine points for India.

UNI HSB AY PM1406