Manama edge past Al Najma

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Defending champions Manama eked out a thrilling 69-68 victory over Al Najma last night to cap the 10th week of play in the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

Sir’Dominic Pointer sank two pressure-packed free-throws with a minute remaining to help lift his team to the win. Elijah Robinson, a former Manama star now playing with Najma, had a chance to tie the game from the stripe with 40 seconds remaining, but he made just one of two and Manama were able to hold on from there.

Najma’s Joshua Caldwell missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. With the result, Manama remained undefeated in nine games and are most likely headed into the league’s Top Six round as the number one seeds.

Najma, on the other hand, will be waiting to learn of their fate, as they dropped their fourth game in 10 tries and are hoping that neither Muharraq or Nuwaidrat take their spot in the ensuing stage. Both Muharraq and Nuwaidrat are on 5-4 win-loss records.

In last night’s encounter, Manama led 64-60 with less than five minutes to play, but Najma went on a stunning 5-0 run, capped by a Caldwell pull-up triple, to take the lead. Robinson charities made it 67-64, but Manama’s veteran court general Hussain Shaker sank a cool three-pointer to tie the game with a minute-and-a-half left. That set the stage for Pointer’s heroics.

He finished as Manama’s top scorer with 23 points, while Shaker added 13 and Ahmed Najaf had 12. For Najma, Caldwell was their leading man with 28, while Robinson scored 20. Only one week remains in the regular season of the league, after which the top six clubs move on to the next round, where they will battle for a place in the Golden Square semi-finals. @bahraingolfchamps on Instagram.