Manama complete clean sweep of regular season

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Manama defeated Al Ettihad 97-88 last night to complete their regular season campaign with an undefeated record in the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

The defending champions now head into the Top Six stage as the number one seeds and a favourite to claim one of the available spots in the Golden Square semi-finals.

Ettihad, despite their loss, are also through to the ensuing stage of the leading six clubs, as are Al Hala, who were not in action yesterday.

The remaining teams that qualify will be confirmed over the next two days, with up to four squads still vying for a place and keeping their title bids alive, including Al Najma, Al Ahli, Muharraq and Nuwaidrat.

They are also set to wrap up their regular season schedules this week.

Tonight, Nuwaidrat take on Samaheej and Sitra face Isa Town, both of whom are currently winless.

Tomorrow, Ahli take on Bahrain Club and Muharraq square off with Hala.

Tie-break rules will need to be applied should any of the clubs finish with identical winloss records.

In last night’s contest, Manama took a 24-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, which they stretched to 56-37 at the half.

They maintained their strong play in the third and then led by as many as 26 in the final canto before coasting to the finish line.

American professional Travin Thibodeaux spearheaded the victors with 33 points, while Ali Jaber and Ali Hussain finished with 16 points apiece.

Sir’Dominic Pointer chipped in with 15. Sayed Kadhem Majed came off the bench to pace Ettihad with 27 points, while Jordan Washington added 18 in the loss.

With the result, Manama closed the regular season with a 10-0 win-loss mark, while Ettihad went to 7-3.