Manama, Riffa victorious in basketball league

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The line-up of teams in the Golden Square semi-finals of the 2020/2021 Zain Bahrain Basketball League is complete, as Al Najma secured the last berth yesterday to join Muharraq, Manama and defending champions Al Ahli.

Najma claimed the final place despite losing to Manama 75-87 last night.

The other final four contenders, Al Hala, needed to win their game against Riffa yesterday, but they fell 73-76 in a narrow overtime loss.

Only one game remains to be played in the league’s preliminary stage, and it will be between Manama and Ahli on Wednesday.

That will determine the top two seeds in the Golden Square, with Ahli already assured third and Najma fourth.

Manama’s win yesterday maintained their unbeaten record after 10 games. A win against Ahli in their last fixture would earn them the top seed over Muharraq.

They dominated the fourth quarter in last night’s clash. They outscored Najma by 17 (30-13) in the period to pull away from their rivals, who managed to keep things close and even lead by as many as eight points.

Once Manama got into their groove, however, they were in full control and built a 16-point cushion with under two minutes left.

Hasan Nowrooz and Lebanese professional Krarim Ezzeddine combined for 44 points to spearhead Manama. Nowrooz had 23 while Ezzeddine finished with 21 including 10 rebounds and six assists.

Mohammed Ameer chipped in with 18 and Ahmed Salman had 11. For Najma, CJ Giles scored 21, grabbed 12 boards and had four blocks.

Qassim Hassan contributed 18 while Fadalallah Abbas had 17. Ali Jaber dished out 13 assists in the loss, which was their fourth to go with seven wins. Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other game, Hala did well to bounce back from a slow start and headed into the fourth quarter with a slim, two-point lead, 51-49.

Canadian Keanau Post was then able to tie the proceedings at 64-apiece in the final minute of regulation, forcing overtime. In the extra session though, Riffa made the key plays down the stretch.

A basket by former NBA champion Dexter Pittman tied the proceedings at 72-apiece with just over two minutes to play.

Hassan Abbas then had two charity shots swish through before Post replied by splitting his own freebies from the stripe, but then Pittman applied the nail in the coffin with a baby hook with seven seconds to go to peg the final score.

Hala had one last chance to tie the game, but Hussain Salman’s three-point attempt as time expired was off the mark.

Pittman finished with 28 points and 18 rebounds to pace Riffa, while Abbas added 18 and Mohamed Ghazwan and Mohamed Salman both chipped in with nine points.

The post had 20 points, 17 boards and five blocks in the losing effort for Hala, while Hussain Salman scored 11.

With the result, Riffa and Hala finished their preliminary round campaigns with identical 6-5 win-loss records as they both missed out on advancing the final four.