Qurban beats buzzer, Manama to lift Super Cup

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Mohammed Qurban buried an off-balance jump shot as time expired to lift Al Ahli to a thrilling 82-80 victory over Manama last night to claim the 2020/2021 Zain Super Cup.

The one-off game, played at Zain Arena in Um Al Hassam, is the traditional season-opening contest of the Bahrain Basketball Association, but this year had to be postponed due to the current health situation. Ahli’s victory earned them their third title in the last few months after also winning the 2019/2020 league crown and Khalifa bin Salman Cup.

Qurban’s game-winner yesterday came in transition after Manama’s Mohammed Hussain missed a potential go-ahead basket on the other end with the game tied at 80-all. Ahli’s Ahmed Aldurazi grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Maitham Jameel, who found Qurban near the left corner.

The Ahli skipper, popularly known as “Bruno”, then took a fade-away jump shot off of one leg as time expired. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Jameel missed a chance to put Ahli up by one with less than a minute remaining as he made just one of two from the free-throw stripe. It was a seesaw affair throughout, with Ahli leading by as many as 13 but Manama finding their way back.

American professional Robert Upshaw scored a game-high 36 points while grabbing 15 rebounds to help spearhead Ahli. Jameel chipped in with 18 points including five three-pointers, while Hesham Sarhan added 15 and Qurban seven. 

Hussain and Lebanese import Karim Ezzeddine both finished with 17 markers to pace Manama, who also got 15 from Mohammed Ameer and 14 from Ahmed Salman. Meanwhile, in yesterday’s lone game in the 2020/2021 Zain Bahrain Basketball League, Muharraq trounced Samaheej 80-60. Muharraq were in control for most of the game.

They outscored Samaheej 23-11 in the second quarter and never looked back, going ahead by as many as 22 points en route to the final whistle. Mohammed Juma’a and Bader Abdulla Malabes scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, to lead their team, while Hussain Shaker chipped in with 13 off the bench.

 Senegalese professional Mansour Kasse had 27 points and 10 rebounds to pace Samaheej. With the result, Muharraq maintained their unbeaten record in three games, while Samaheej suffered their first loss after back-to-back wins to start the new league campaign.