Manama extend unbeaten run

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Manama extended their undefeated run last night in the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League, powering past Nuwaidrat 102-67 at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam. The defending champions were in control from the opening tip and never trailed in the contest.

They enjoyed leads as big as 37 points en route to claiming their league-leading eighth win. Manama stayed as the only team yet to taste a defeat this season. They moved into solo first place on the standings.

Also yesterday, Al Najma added to Sitra’s winless record with a 111-65 triumph. Najma moved right behind Manama on the league table while Sitra were second-to-last amongst the 12 participating clubs.

Last night’s fixtures wrapped up the ninth week of action in the Kingdom’s premier national basketball competition. In Manama’s victory, they took a 26-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

After taking a 45-35 advantage into the half, they erupted for a 35-14 third period and cruised the rest of the way. Ali Jaber led five Manama players in double figures with 20 points. American professional Travin Thibodeaux added 17, while Ali Hussain finished with 16, Sir’Dominic Pointer 14 and Emran Hasan 10 off the bench.

For Nuwaidrat, Ammar Mohammed Shabaan was their top performer with 16 points while Lamar Mallory scored 12 in the losing effort. With the result, Manama opened a gap from their closest challengers atop the standings. They went to 16 points in first place, while Nuwaidrat lost for only the third time in eight outings and went to 13 points while remaining in the top six.

In Najma’s win yesterday, they had a slow start and trailed by one, 18-19, after the first period. They then came alive in the second, pounding Sitra 41-13 to go ahead 59-32 at the break, and never wavered. They coasted to the finish line and went up by as many as 48 points before the last buzzer.

Sadiq Shukrallah had 19 points to pace Najma, who had seven players score in double figures. Mohammed Jassim added 17 and Joshua Caldwell scored 14. Mohammed Buallay and Sayed Mohammed Hameed had 12 apiece, with Buallay adding 13 rebounds and 12 assists for a rare triple-double.

Mohayad Ameer and Abdulla Mohammed scored 10 each in the win. For Sitra, who were playing without an import, Ebrahim Murad Ebrahim scored 23 and Ali Jawad Salman and Ali Eid had 13 apiece. Najma went to 15 points on the table with their sixth win in nine outings, while Sitra suffered their ninth successive defeat. They are one of two teams still to claim a win this campaign.