Ettihad escape with win against Nuwaidrat

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Al Ettihad outlasted Nuwaidrat 93-89 in overtime last night in a tight week 19 clash of the 2022/2023 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

The game was yesterday’s lone fixture at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.

Ettihad recovered from a slow start to take control of the contest in the second quarter.

Nuwaidrat stayed within striking distance after the break and then roared back in the fourth.

Keanau Post and Murtadha Salman both contributed baskets to bring Nuwaidrat to within 81-83 with under two minutes left.

Neither team would score on their ensuing plays, and then Ettihad missed a chance to put the game away after being unable to inbound the ball with 5.2 seconds remaining.

Post was then fouled, and he sank both pressure-packed free-throws to send the game into the extra five-minute period. In over time, a crucial three-pointer by Ali Jassim gave Ettihad an 89-85 lead.

They would maintain that gap until Post scored on a lay-up with a minute to play to get to within two points.

But Uter was later fouled and he made both his charities, and Nuwaidrat could not get any closer from there.

Ettihad skipper Ahmed Ghanim had 24 points as his team’s top scorer, while American professional Adrian Uter finished with 19. Jassim chipped in with 18 while Ali Ghadeer had 11.

For Nuwaidrat, Post was their top performer with 33 points. The Canadian also took down 19 rebounds in the loss.

Abbas Jameel added 14 and Mohayad Ameer had 13. With the result, Ettihad claimed their 12th win in 17 games as they improved to 29 points for fourth place on the league standings.

Nuwaidrat suffered their 11th loss to go with six wins as they remained in the bottom half of the table.

Nuwaidrat started things off as the aggressors, taking a 26-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But Ettihad fought back and wrested away the advantage in a dominant second period, where they outscored their opponents 25-13 to head into the interval up 46-39.

After the break, Nuwaidrat were determined to cut the deficit and outscored Ettihad by just a single point in the third period, which ended with a pair of Uter free-throws that made it 64-58, setting the stage for the tense finish.

League action continues on Thursday next week with the 20th round of games in the league’s preliminary stage.