Brave Bahrain bow to South Korea

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain signed off from the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 yesterday with a valiant effort in a 73-78 loss to continental powerhouses South Korea in their final Group B game of the tournament’s preliminary round. Just two days after giving Asian giants China all they can handle in a one-point defeat, the undersized Bahrainis, the tournament’s clear underdogs, showed their heart and grit and gave their opponents a scare in a near-upset.

The nationals headed into the game’s final quarter with a slim 61-60 lead, but the Koreans went ahead for good on an RA Guna jump shot that made it 64-62 with just under seven minutes remaining. Bahrain kept things close the rest of the way and a Maitham Jameel three-pointer with less than two minutes left brought them to within three, 70-73, but Ung Heo replied with a stepback triple with 50 seconds to play to push the South Koreans back ahead by six.

The Bahrainis continued to fight and an Ahmed Hassan Alderazi three-pointer in transition with 21 seconds left brought them back to within three, but then Hoon Heo iced South Korea’s win with two free-throws and just 15 seconds on the clock. The result was Bahrain’s third loss in the tournament’s first stage and they come away from Indonesia with no wins, although were always in contention in each of their games. The South Koreans completed Group B with an undefeated record in their three outings and advanced directly to the quarter-finals.

Also from their division, China and Chinese-Taipei moved on to the play-off round as the second and third-ranked sides. China beat Chinese-Taipei 95-80 in yesterday’s other Group B game to finalise the group table. Jameel finished as Bahrain’s top scorer against South Korea yesterday with 20 points, including five three-pointers. Natualised big man Wayne Chism had 17 points and 20 rebounds, while Alderazi chipped in with 14 and four triples. Mohammed Ameer contributed nine points for the nationals while Ali Hussain had seven.

Junyung Choi paced South Korea with 15 points. Guna added 14 while Daesung Lee had 10. All 12 of their players took to the hardwood in yesterday’s contest, with all but one making it onto the score sheet. South Korea went ahead 19-12 at the end of the first quarter but an impressive second period for Bahrain helped them go up 42- 38 at the half. The nationals then took their biggest lead, 44-38, early in the third, but they then conceded 11 unanswered points as they lost their advantage. The Bahrainis were able to regain control heading into the final quarter, but lost it once again in the end.