Manama outclass Al Sadd of Qatar

TDT | Manama                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain champions Manama outclassed Al Sadd of Qatar 98-86 last night in their final preliminary round game in the Gulf sub-zone of the 2022/2023 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL).

The result marked Manama’s fourth win in six outings, and it earned them second place overall in Group B of this stage.

They thus marched through to the qualification game for the Gulf subzone semi-finals, where they will face off with Kazma of Kuwait, who finished third in Group A.

Kuwait SC of Kuwait finished as Group B winners ahead of Manama and third-placers Al Nassr Riyadh of Saudi Arabia, while Sadd were last in the group.

In Manama’s triumph last night, the Bahrainis shrugged off a lacklustre first quarter where they fell behind 14-26 to take control of the game in the second and third periods.

They were still behind 44-47 at the half, but with a 34-23 third went up 78- 70 with only the final canto remaining.

There, they rode their momentum to their biggest lead of 12 points, which was also the winning margin. Lamont Jones scored 25 points to spearhead Manama in the game.

Mohammed Ameer added 21, while Elijah Robinson had 19.

All three top scorers buried three three-pointers apiece against Sadd.

Ahmed Alderazi chipped in with 14 and four triples, while Steve Taylor Jr had six points and nine rebounds.

Vander Lee Blue II was the top-scorer for Sadd with 32, while Waverly Samuel Austin added 23 in the loss.

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

They played home-and-away contests in the Gulf sub-zone against Sadd, Nassr Riyadh and Kuwait.

Group A in the Gulf sub-zone comprises Kazma, Al Hilal of Saudi, Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE and Al Basheer Club of Oman.

Along with the Gulf sub-zone, there is a West Asia sub-zone that includes Beirut First Club of Lebanon, Al Ittihad Aleppo of Syria, Orthodox Amman of Jordan and Zob Ahan Isfahan of Iran in Group A; and Shahrdari Gorgan of Iran, Al Naft SC of Iraq, Al Karamah SC of Syria, and Al Riyadi Beirut of Lebanon in Group B.

Just like in the Gulf sub-zone, the top team from each group will advance to the semi-finals, while the second and third will face-off in qualification to the last four.

Eventually, the top three teams from the WASL Gulf and WASL West Asia sub-zones will qualify for the WASL Final 8, where they will be joined by Champions of South Asia and Central Asia.

The WASL Final 8 will qualify for FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023, on the road to FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2023, FIBA’s highest club competition.