Manama bow to Lebanon’s Al Riyadi

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

Bahrain’s Manama Club were last night handed a disappointing start to the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final Eight, currently being held in Dubai.

The Bahrainis, silver-medallists in the WASL’s Gulf sub-zone, bowed to WASL West Asia subzone champions Al Riyadi of Lebanon 84-112 in their opening fixture of Group A.

Manama led 24-21 at the end of the first quarter but then lost their momentum following a lacklustre second period, when they were outscored 15-34 to head into the break facing a 39- 55 deficit.

The Bahrainis fell behind by as many as 29 points the rest of the way.

Manama have a rest day today and will be looking to bounce back in their second fixture of the preliminary round tomorrow against the Chennai Heats from India. That contest is scheduled for a 6pm tip-off, Bahrain time.

They then play their last fixture of this stage on Wednesday against Beirut Club of Lebanon, also slated for a 6pm start. Group B in the WASL Final Eight features Kuwait SC of Kuwait, Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE, Shahrdary Gorgan from Iran and BC Astana from Kazakhstan.

Following a single round-robin, the top two teams from each group move on to the knockout semi-finals on Friday, while the gold and bronze medal games are to be held Saturday evening.

In this maiden edition of the competition, the WASL Final Eight also acts as a qualifier for FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023, on the road to FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2023, FIBA’s highest club competition.

In yesterday’s contest, Manama conceded an 18-6 run to their rivals to begin the second quarter, giving up their lead.

They then went behind by double digits for the first time, 37- 49, following a Kevin Murphy three-pointer.

Manama trailed 60-79 heading into the final canto, where they faced their biggest deficit of the game.

Young guard Mustafa Hussain top scored for the Bahrainis with 21 points, while Sir’Dominic Pointer added 16 to go with 13 rebounds and Mohammed Ameer chipped in 13.

Ahmed Salman scored nine while Hasan Nowrooz finished with eight, with Travin Thibodeaux scoring just seven points while grabbing seven boards.

For Riyadi, six players finished in double figures, led by Doup Thomas Reath’s 22 markers.

Murphy and Elmedin Kikanovic finished with 19 apiece, while Lebanese superstar Wael Arakji had 15 and seven assists.

Amir Saoud and Karim Zeinoun scored 12 points each, with Saoud dishing out nine assists in the win.