The two teams, playing in the men's Division A, were neck and neck at the halfway point with the score at 44-all.

Tiew Pai Ngarm then changed their game as they sent on their young stars such as top scorer Prachya Kruathiwa, who sank 34 points including seven 3-pointers to lead his team to victory in a thrilling encounter.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Bank raced to a 30-21 lead in the first quarter of their game against defending champions Hi-Tech, who needed to call a technical timeout at the end of the quarter.

However, Hi-Tech recovered and went ahead 56-52, this time forcing the bankers to call a timeout in the second quarter. Hi-Tech then played steadily to carve out a 74-67 win.

In the women's category, Hi-Tech took the fifth place yesterday when Chiang Mai University withdrew from the fifth-place play-off.

Only the top two teams in each group in the men's event and the top two teams in the women's groups A and B will advance to the semi-finals, which will take place at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium on Thursday.