Following the emphatic win at the Royal – Thomian Basketball Encounter in the year 2013, both Royal and S. Thomas’ came into the game with flare and with eyes on the trophy, on the 18th of October 2014, at the Royal College Sports Complex.

The fans witnessed intensity at its best in all the games played, including the junior game and the old boys game. To kick off this years Royal – Thomian Basketball rivalry, the junior game was played first, which turned out to be quite a thriller, where Royal managed to edge a win with the final score on 48-44, as it came down to the wire, with Royal coming from behind and winning within the last few seconds!

The thrilling junior game was followed by the old boys’ game, which also saw the Royalists bagging the game, with the final score being 62-53. The game was less active in terms of intensity when compared to the junior game, as Royal was comfortably ahead throughout the course of the 4 quarters.

As the hype was built up for the main event of the night, Julian Gunasinghe and co. lead the Royal team out along with the Thomian counterparts on the opposite side of the courts, while past Prefect and Basketball player Ahamed Abbad introduced the sides to the crowd. Following the introduction of the teams, the action began with the first quarter commencing, following the whistle of the referee.

S. Thomas’ College drew first blood by scoring the first basket, much to the delight of the Thomians, but it was short lived as Royal managed to catch up, and even the scores out. For the first 3 quarters, the game was pretty much in the balance with moments of brilliance by both sides, which saw both sides taking the lead from each other continuously.

The 4th quarter was also action packed, however towards the final few minutes of the final quarter, the Thomians lost their touch, and the home team capitalized on it and managed to place the game away from the Thomians, where Royal managed to clinch the victory and keep the D.S. Senanayaka Memorial Trophy at home, with the final score being 55-41 in favour of Royal.

An intense game and an intense evening altogether, as the game and atmosphere itself was crowded with the rivalry between the two schools, which was well rounded off with a skillful victory for Royal College.