Al Ahli win thriller against Muharraq

TDT | Manama                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com 

Hesham Sarhan made the game-winning layup with 0.4 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to lift Al Ahli to a thrilling 88-86 victory over fellow-title hopefuls Muharraq last night in the 2022/2023 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

Sarhan’s basket capped a come-from-behind performance for Ahli, who were down by as many as 14 points in regulation.

American professional Lenny Daniel made a running hook shot at the buzzer to tie the proceedings at 69-all to force the first extra session.

There, Bader Abdulla Malabes buried a long three-pointer with 7.4 seconds to play to put Muharraq up by two, but Mohammed Kowayed was able to answer on the very next possession to tie it at 77-apiece and send the game into a second overtime period.

Tony Mitchell made a triple with 35 seconds remaining to put Muharraq ahead 86-84, but Mohammed Qurban was able to reply for Ahli.

Mitchell then tried to win the game for his team on a forced attempt with four seconds to go, but then Sarhan raced down the length of the court to connect on the decisive lay-up in transition.

Muharraq had one last chance to tie or steal the win after a timeout, but they could not connect on their alley-oop attempt to Mitchell.

It was a stunning finish for Ahli and a heartbreaker for Muharraq, who had led for most of the game and had multiple chances to put Ahli away.

Daniel finished as Ahli’s top scorer with 22 points while taking down 16 rebounds.

Sarhan added 21 markers including three three-pointers, and Kowayed finished with 19.

Maitham Jameel came off the bench to score 10 while Qurban finished with eight.

For Muharraq, Mitchell had a game-high 32 points and 21 rebounds while Malabes had 13 and Hussain Salman 11.

With the result, Ahli improved to an 8-1 win-loss record and tied former solo leaders and defending champions Manama at the top of the league table.

Muharraq, on the other hand, dropped to a 5-4 mark. Both teams have one game remaining in this first round of league play.

Action continues tomorrow with Manama facing off with Isa Town followed by Al Hala playing Nuwaidrat.

Then, on Wednesday, Al Najma take on Bahrain Club.

On Thursday, Muharraq play Sitra while Ahli go against Al Ettihad.

That will mark the final day of the opening round of play this season.

Following a second round-robin, the league’s top six will move on to the play-offs, to determine the four that will march through to the Golden Square semi-finals.