Muharraq edge past Nuwaidrat in thriller

TDT | Manama                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Muharraq eked out a narrow 62-59 victory over Nuwaidrat last night to get their title bid underway in the 2022/2023 Zain Bahrain Basketball League, being played at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam. Ali Shukrallah made a reverse lay-up with 17 seconds to go to give last season’s losing finalists their game-ending three-point cushion.

Nuwaidrat tried to tie it in the closing seconds but attempts from American Shaquille Jamar Thomas and Sayed Hashem Habib both clanged off the rim. With the result, Muharraq joined defending champions Manama, Al Ahli, Isa Town and Bahrain Club as winners from the first week of league action.

Play resumes on Thursday night with the first evening of week two. In last night ’s thriller, Shukrallah’s basket came on the back-end of a furious exchange between both teams in the game’s closing minutes. After Hassan Abbas buried a three-pointer to give Nuwaidrat a 54-49 lead with seven minutes to play, Muharraq replied with a triple by Bader Abdulla Malabes and an Abdulla Rabeea lay-up. Hussain Salman then gave Muharraq back the lead with a fastbreak basket with just twoand-a-half minutes left on the game clock, and then Ali Jaffar scored on a drive to make it a two-possession game.

Fired in

Bu t Thomas fired in a three-pointer to bring his team back to within 57-58, and then baskets from Jaffar and Abbas maintained the one-point difference with just over 30 seconds to play. That set the stage for Shukrallah’s game-sealing reverse layup, which came off a Jaffar driving assist.

Malabes top scored for the victors with 19 points. He played all 40 minutes in the contest and buried three three-pointers in the process. Younes Kowayed was their only other player in double figures, finishing with 10. Jaffar added nine markers for Muharraq, who were playing without a professional. They are coached this season by globally renowned Serbian tactician Rajko Toroman, For Nuwaidrat, Thomas had 21 points and 17 rebounds in the loss. Ameer chipped in with 14 and Abbas had 13.

The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than six points. Muharraq were ahead 20-19 at the end of the first quarter, but they closed the half strong for a 35-29 advantage heading into the locker rooms. Nuwaidrat then managed to tie the game at 35-all following a pair of Abbas Jameel free-throws in the third, and then Jameel hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to go in the quarter to help his team stay close at 44- 47 heading into the final canto.

Two games are on the cards on Thursday. At 5.30pm, defending champions Manama go up against Sitra, followed t 7.30pm by Al Ahli facing Al Hala. Both Manama and Ahli will be looking to continue their winning starts to the season, while Sitra and Hala hope to bounce back from opening-game losses. Week two continues on Tuesday next week, with Nuwaidrat playing Isa Town and Al Ettihad taking on Samaheej. Then, on September 21, Muharraq face off with Bahrain Club.