Vijaya Bank (Men) & Eastern Railway (Women) win 2014 JCI Basketball Tournament at Athirampuzha

Kolkata's outfit Eastern Railway capitalized their unexpected run with a final victory over Assumption College (Changanacherry) to win the 5th JCI All India Invitational Basketball Tournament, held in Athirampuzha in Kottayam district, Kerala on January 12th. In the Men's Final that followed, Bangalore's outfit Vijaya Bank blew out Customs (Chennai) for a resounding victory.

Eastern Railway trailed by two points at halftime of the Women's Final, but turned things around behind a strong effort by Sukurmoni Oran (22) to take the lead over Assumption and fight to a 62-55 win.

In the Men's game, Vijaya's Bank star Aravind was on fire, scoring 31 points to lead the rout over Customs. Vijaya Bank had a 42-22 lead at halftime and cruised to a 72-44 win.

Special guests at the finale - held at Athirampuzha St Aloysius Basketball Stadium - including Kerala's Forest Transport, Sports, Environment, and Cinema Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MP Jose K Mani, Mons Joseph, Suresh Kurup, NBA-certified coach Jim Coronna , ex India international gootballer IM Vijayan, and India international basketball player CV Sunny.

ONGC (Men) and Central Railway (Women) won the JCI basketball tournament last year.