Manama romp into Khalifa bin Salman Cup quarters

TDT | Manama                                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com    

Manama barged into the quarter-finals of the 2022/2023 Khalifa bin Salman Cup last night following a rampant 126-67 victory over Isa Town at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.

Manama held a 29-21 advantage at the end of the first quarter but was dominant the rest of the way. They stretched their lead to 57-39 at the half and then went up by as many as their final winning margin of 59 the rest of the way.

Three players scored 20 or more points for Manama for the lopsided result. Travin Thibodeaux was their leading man with 24, while he also took down 15 rebounds and blocked three shots. Ahmed Salman and Mohammed Ameer each finished with 20.

Salman buried four three-pointers in the game while Amer had seven steals. Ahmed Aldurazi chipped in with 16 while Ammar Mohammed Shabaan had 15. All but one of Manama’s 12 players who took to the hardwood last night got onto the scoresheet.

For Isa Town, American professional Oumar Barry had 25 points and 16 rebounds to pace his team in the loss. Hussain Mahdi added 11 as their only other player in double figures. Manama now move on to the quarter-finals of the prestigious competition.

There, they will face the winner of the preliminary round contest between Bahrain Club and Samaheej. Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, three-time defending cup champions Al Ahli are set for an exciting clash against Al Ettihad tomorrow, scheduled for a 9.30pm tip-off at the same venue.

Also in the round of eight, Al Hala will be playing Muharraq. Sitra are already through to the semi-finals, and await the winner of the Hala-Muharraq match-up. Manama and Ahli are set for a potential showdown in the final four, should both teams make it through.