Ettihad book Golden Square berth
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Al Ettihad punched their tickets last night to the Golden Square semi-finals of the 2022/2023 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Ettihad advanced following a hard-earned 98-97 victory over Al Najma in game two of their best -of-three play-off series thus completing a two - game sweep of that match-up.
Ettihad had earlier won game one 100-94.
Ettihad have now set up an exciting clash with Muharaq in the final tour. Muharaq had already booked their berth in that stage after finishing as the top seed in the league's regular season.
Former NBA forward Cleanthony Early once again came up big four Ettihad last night, pouring in a game -high 42 points matching his output from the series opener. Early also had 10 rebounds in the win.
Ukrainian professional Viacheslav Kavstov added 22 for Ettihad, while Ali Jassim and Ali Ghadeer chipped in with 12 apiece.
With the game tied at 78-all heading into the final canto, Najma went on a 5-0 run to start the quarter, sparked by American import Nick Ward.
Najma were able to go up by eight but Ettihad roared back, tying the game at 91-apiece on aGhadeer three-pointer with three minutes left.
Two free-throws by Early then gave Ettihad the lead for good, and then a Jassim triple made it 96-91 with a minute-and-a-half to play.
Mohammed Buallay buried his own basket from beyond the arc to bring Najma back within a field goal, but then Hassan Albossta made a driving basket with 5.8 seconds to go to make it 98-94 and virtually ice the game.
Najma's veteran court general Hussain Shaker gave them a ray of hope with a desperation triple and just 2.6 seconds left, but even after Kastov missed two free- throws, Najma were unable to get a potential game -winner off as the final buzzer sounded.
Three players scored over 20 points for Najma in the loss. Terico White had 24, while Ward added 23 and Sahker contributed 22. Mohammed Hussain chipped in with 19.
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