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.

Central Excise (Men), KSEB (Women) win 12th Kerala Champions Trophy

Customs & Central Excise (Men) and Kerala State Electricity Boards (KSEB) (Women) were victorious in the finals of the 12th Champions Trophy Inter-Club Basketball Championship organised by the YMCA in Kuriannoor, Kerala on January 28th. The championship, which was held from Jan 24th-28th, was held under the auspices of the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) and the PDBA.

The Women's final was a close affair, as KSEB, winners of the trophy last year, were looking for a repeat victory against the team from Assumption College in Changanassery. Playing strong defense on the defending champs, Assumption held to a 33-25 lead after three quarters. But KSEB made a bullish comeback behind the experienced Anjana SS (15 points) to take the lead an survive for a 43-40 victory.

Customs & Central Excise played against the newly-recruited Kerala Police side in the Men's final, and the result was never in doubt for the more experienced and bigger Central Excise team. Led by Monish Wilson (34) and Shinumon Augustine (25), Central Excise led the whole way and cruised to a 95-59 drubbing. Anu Mohandas scored a team-high 18 points for Kerala Police.

Now, Customs and Central Excise, a Kochi-based side, will represent Kerala at the All-India Federation Cup Championship, which is set to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi itself.