21 Chait, Kathmandu. Tribhuvan Army Club has entered the Himalayan Java National Basketball League (HJNBL) 2026 qualifiers.

Army defeated Goldengate Basketball Club 95-88 in Saturday’s match and secured a place in the top two with one game remaining in the league and secured a place in the first qualifier.

After this victory, Army has won 12 matches out of 13 matches and has climbed to the top position with 25 points. After the result of 12 wins and 2 losses from the same matches, Goldengate is in second place with 24 points.

Now Army will play against KVC Hounds in the last match and despite losing in that match, Army is sure to be in the top two.

Goldengate got off to a good start in the match at Dasharath Stadium Covered Hall in Tripureshwar. Goldengate led 30-20 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter Army came back and won 22-17 in their favor. However, by halftime, Goldengate had a 47-42 lead.

In the third quarter, Army won 22-21 in their favor and reduced Goldengate’s lead to 68-64. In the fourth quarter, Army started aggressively and took the lead in the game against Goldengate after tying the score. The fourth quarter Army won the game by 31-20 in their favor.

Army’s Nischal Maharjan was declared Man of the Match. He scored the highest 29 points.

Similarly, in the first match on Saturday, KVC Hounds defeated Times Basketball Club 78-68. This is the ninth victory of the Hounds.

The Hounds avenged their loss to the Times in the first round. Earlier, Times defeated Hounds 73-68 in the first round.

This is the second consecutive loss for Times who won 6 out of 7 matches in the first round. Times, which was defeated in the first match, won ten matches in a row with excellent performances, but Times was defeated in the last two matches. Earlier in the match, Times was defeated by Tribhuvan Army Club.

After the defeat, Times, who scored 23 points from 13 games, remains in the third place. The Hounds, who have won their ninth win, remain in fourth place with 22 points.

In the match between the Hounds and the Times, the Hounds took the lead in the first quarter, and then the Times took the lead in all three quarters.

But the 16-point lead in the first quarter was decisive for the Hounds to win.

The Times narrowed the lead after three quarters but could not prevent the Hounds from winning.

In the first quarter against the Times, the Hounds had a wide lead of 23-7. Although the first quarter was competitive, the Times took a 23-22 lead, but the Hounds remained ahead 45-30 until halftime.

The Times won the third quarter 15-13, but the Hounds were ahead 58-45 before the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Times won 23-20 in their favor but could not win.

Hounds captain Vijay Burja was declared man of the match. He scored the highest 28 points. 8 teams are competing on the basis of double round robin in HJNBL organized by Nepal Basketball Association (NEBA).

There are now 4 games left in the league stage. After the league stage, the top four teams will enter the playoffs. Under the playoffs, the first qualifier will be played between the first and second teams in the league, while the eliminator match will be played between the third and fourth teams in the league.

The second qualifier will be between the defeated team in the first qualifier and the winning team in the eliminator. The final match will be played between the winners of the first and second qualifiers.

The winner of the competition will receive 4 lakh in cash, the runner-up will get 2 lakh and the third runner-up will get 1 lakh.

According to NEBA, the most valuable player (MVP) will also receive an attractive prize for performing well throughout the tournament.