Al Ettihad rally past Al Ahli in BBA Cup

Al Ettihad came away with a stunning 78-74 victory over Al Ahli last night in the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Cup, played at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam. Ettihad dominated the first and third quarters and then did enough in the end to stave off an Ahli fightback.

The victors took a 30-7 lead at the end of the opening period but Ahli were able to get to within 38-46 heading into the half. In the third, Ettihad held their opponents to seven points for the second time in the game, and then in the final canto managed to hold off Ahli, who outscored them by 13. Three of Ettihad’s players had fine double-doubles to lead their ssquad. Ali Hilal finished with a team-high with 25 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds and registering three steals.

Hasan Fahad scored 16 and took down 14 boards, while skipper Ali Ghadeer had a near triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. Ammar Shaaban contributed 14 in the win. Ahli were playing without their star players Hesham Sarhan, Maytham Jameel and Mohammed Qurban. Jassim Abul tried valiantly to make up for their absence with 20 points off the bench. Sayed Hashim Habib added 12 and Nawaf Nabeel 10 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

In yesterday’s other game, Nuwaidrat posted a resounding 101-91 victory over Al najma. Mohammed Batti and Ebrahim Albasri combined for 46 points as they led five Nuwaidrat players in double-figures. Bati had game-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Albasri finished with 21 including four three-pointers.

Ahmed Hassan chipped in with 16 points and 10 boards, while Jawad Abdulla orchestrated the offence with 10 assists to go with seven points and five steals. Najma captain Fadalallah Abbas had 23 to pace his team, while Ali Jaber had an allaround effort of 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Action continues tonight with just one game, as Manama take on Samaheej at 5.30pm.