Muharraq battle past Isa Town

TDT | Manama                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Muharraq posted a hard earned 88-80 victory over Isa Town last night in their week five game of the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League. Muharraq needed to come alive late on to thwart their opponents, who were one of three teams heading into yesterday’s action yet to claim a win this season.

After Isa Town took a 46- 44 lead on a Hussain Mahdi three-pointer, Muharraq went on a game-changing 15-2 run to finally take control of the contest and build a double-digit cushion at 59-48.

They never looked back from there, going up 68-58 heading into the final canto, where they led by as many as 15 points en route to the final winning margin. Earlier in the game, Muharraq led 21-15 after the first period, but Isa Town came back to tie the proceedings at 41-apiece heading into the interval.

Both sides were playing with an overseas professional in the game, making things even between their Bahraini stars. Muharraq had a balanced attack with Mohammed Hussain, Mohammed Juma’a and Ali Shukrallah all finishing with 14 points apiece.

Shukrallah also had a monster 20 rebounds and Juma’a finished with 16 boards as Muharraq controlled the paint. Bader Abdulla Malabes added 13 in the win, while Ali Hussain scored 12 and Ali Jaffar contributed 10.

Talal Qaheri paced Isa Town in the loss with 26 points, including five three-pointers. Jehad Ahmed added 18 and Hussain Mahdi scored 15.

Following last night’s result, Muharraq registered their third win in four games while handing Isa Town their fourth successive loss. Isa Town have yet to win a contest. In another game last night, Samaheej claimed their first win of the season after defeating Sitra 86-53.

Both teams headed into the clash without any victories in four games, but Samaheej were the ones who were able to break the losing streak at the expense of their opponents. Samaheej led 22-14 at the end of the first quarter then stretched their advantage to 42- 26 at the half and never looked back.

Their biggest lead in their victory was 34. Salman Alkaabi had 21 points to lead five players in double figures for the winners. Alkaabi also had an impressive 17 rebounds. Mohammed Abdulla Jaffar chipped in with 14 markers while Basel Adel had 12. For Sitra, Mahdi Abdulameer scored 15 and Hussain Zuhair had 10 off the bench.

Sitra slumped to their fifth straight defeat, which is the most so far this season. League action continues on Tuesday with Al Najma taking on Al Ettihad at 7.30pm. That game wraps up the fifth week of play in the current campaign.