Manama edge Al Sadd in West Asian basketball

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Manama eked out a hardearned 99-94 victory in overtime over Al Sadd of Qatar in their Gulf subzone contest of the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL).

The game was played at the Al Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha.

Manama’s Charles Wayne Garcia made one of two freethrows with one second to go in regulation to force the extra five-minute session.

There, the Bahrainis were able to pull away from their opponents with baskets from American Elijah Robinson and standout national team guard Mustafa Hussain to peg the final score.

The result earned Manama their second win in three tries in their WASL Gulf group.

They previously lost to Kuwait Club at home after opening their tournament bid with a win over Al Nasr Riyadh from Saudi Arabia.

Hasan Nowrooz led six Manama players in double figures with 20 points, while Hussain added 18 and Robinson 14.

Lamonte Ulmer chipped in with 11 while Garcia and Ahmed Alderazi finished with 10 apiece.

Vander Lee Blue II had 27 points for Sadd while Babacar Dieng had 23 in the loss.

It was a tightly contested game throughout, with neither team building leads of more than seven points.

Hussain buried a three-pointer to beat the buzzer to give Manama a 44-41 lead at the half, and then they went up 65-60 heading into the final canto.

Omar Mohamed Saad buried a go-ahead triple with seven seconds to go to give Sadd a slim 86-85 advantage, which paved the way for Garcia’s tying charity shot to force overtime.

Manama are back on the hardwood for WASL action on 23 January when they take on Nasr in the return affair at home.

The WASL is a new basketball competition sanctioned by FIBA, the sport’s global governing body. Manama are one of 16 teams in the inaugural edition.

They are in Group B of the Gulf sub-zone alongside Sadd, Nasr and Kuwait. The Bahrainis will be facing each of the three sides in home-and-away contests.