Nuwaidrat survive late Muharraq scare

TDT | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Lamar Mallory scored with 13 seconds remaining to help lift Nuwaidrat to a last-gasp 89-88 victory over Muharraq last night in their week eight contest of the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

Nuwaidrat survived a furious late rally from Muharraq before coming away with the win. They led by as many as 15 points in the final stanza, 85-70, but their opponents roared back with an 18-2 run, capped by a Bader Abdulla Malabes three-pointer that gave them a slim 88-87 advantage.

But that set the stage for Mallory’s go-ahead lay-up, which came off an assist by Sameen Swint. Malabes had a chance to steal the game for Muharraq in the game’s dying seconds, but his fadeaway jumper in the face of tough defence was marginally off target.

Mallory and Swint combined for 47 points for Nuwaidrat, with Mallory finishing with 25 while also taking down 13 rebounds. Swint had four triples in the contest, as did teammates Omran Yousif and Murtadha Salman, who finished with 14 markers each. Tyler Wilkerson paced Muharraq in the loss with 30 points, while Malabes finished with 26, while also firing in four baskets from beyond the arc.

Both teams headed into the clash with identical 4-2 win-loss records, but Nuwaidrat powered ahead on the standings and claimed their fifth triumph in seven outings, while Muharraq dropped their third contest.

Easy

In yesterday’s other game, Al Ettihad made easy work of Bahrain Club in a lopsided 119-61 victory.

Ettihad came out of the gate on fire and more than doubled Bahrain Club’s output by the end of the first quarter, taking a 35-15 lead. They outscored their opponents by 20 once again, 31- 11, in the second period to take a commanding 66-26 cushion at the half.

They cruised after the break but still enjoyed leads as big as their final winning margin of 58 points the rest of the way. Jordan Washington scored a game-high 36 points to spearhead the victors, while Ali Ghadeer had 17 and Hassan Fahad finished with 16. Sayed Mohammed Hameed finished with 13 to pace Bahrain Club, who were playing without a foreign professional.

Sultan Majed came off the bench to add 11 in the losing effort. With the result, Ettihad maintained their status as one of the league’s top teams with a 5-2 win-loss record. Bahrain Club dropped their fifth contest to go with two wins, with one of their losses coming on a forfeit after their players did not show up due to a club dispute.

League action continues tonight at the same venue. Defending champions Manama will look to maintain their pristine record when they go up against winless side Sitra at 5.30pm, while Samaheej take on Isa Town, who are the only other club to taste victory this season, at 7.30pm.