Kohima, Nov. 13: The Faith Ballers of Guwahati emerged champions and lifted the fifth open basketball tournament trophy at Local Ground here on Saturday.

Faith Ballers registered a convincing win over St Joseph College, Jakhama, 120-66 in a high-scoring final encounter.

Faith Ballers maintained a comfortable lead in all the quarters of the match.

In the first quarter, they lead 42-18 and at half-time, the scoreline read 61-42 in favour of the Guwahati side.

By the third quarter, the Faith Ballers lead 91-60.

The winner pocketed Rs 30,000 in cash, sponsored by the Nagaland Contractors and Suppliers Union, apart from the trophy and certificates.

The losers had to be content with Rs 20,000 sponsored by Cell City, Kohima, and trophies and certificates.

The Man of the Match award went to international player Bimal Choudhury, representing Faith Ballers, who notched up 54 points.

Earlier in the day, St Joseph College, Jakhama, beat Ancient Knights 42-24 in the first semifinal.

The Man of the Match award went to Avi (St Joseph College) with 14 points.

Faith Ballers, Guwahati routed Highland Dazzlers 91-59 in the second semifinal.

Faith Ballers? international player Ram Asre Yadav bagged the Man of the Match award for scoring 40 points.

The losing semifinalist teams got a cash award of Rs 5,000 each, sponsored by Godrej, Kohima and Shoppers Hope, Dimapur.

The player of the tournament award was bagged by Victor Liny? of St Joseph College, who walked away with cash prize of Rs.5,000, sponsored by the family of Lt Neiphr?lie.

The tournament was jointly organised by the Nagaland Basketball Association and Suncity, Kohima.

Player recovering: Promising Assam cricketer Swarupam Purkayastha, who was admitted to the Railway Hospital with a urinary infection on Saturday, was said to be recovering. The all-rounder is a state probable for the under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy tournament.

GTC panel constituted: The Gauhati Town Club (GTC) Centenary Celebration Committee constituted a core panel on Saturday involving almost all senior members of the club.

The panel will initiate the preliminary work for the celebration before an emergent general meeting of the club is held tentatively on December 25 to finalise plans.

The club is also going to launch a website and produce a video film of 15 to 20 minutes duration on its activities, says a staff reporter.