Ettihad edge past Hala

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Al Ettihad posted a hardearned 94-88 victory over Al Hala last night to make a winning start to the Top Six round in the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

Ettihad made the key plays down the stretch to help lift them in the tightly contested affair.

Cleanthony Early came up big in that period, breaking a late deadlock from the charity stripe to give his team the lead for good.

The American professional finished with a team-high 29 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds and registering four steals in the full 40 minutes of work.

Both teams headed into yesterday’s fixture amongst the top clubs during the regular season, with each finishing on identical 7-3 win-loss records.

With the result, Ettihad joined defending champions Manama and Muharraq as winners of game day one in this stage.

Manama had beaten Al Najma 96-78 in their game, while Muharraq overcame a tough challenge from Al Ahli in a narrow 92-88 victory.

Ettihad were the early aggressors and took a 25-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Hala kept things close before the half, but a Mohammed Kowayed layup put Ettihad up 48-42 heading into the interval.

Unanswered In the third the two sides continued to trade jabs and Hala were able to get to within a single point, but Ettihad replied with eight unanswered points for 67-58 advantage, although Hala reduced the deficit to 65-70 heading into the final stanza.

There, Hala did not go away and Alex Young gave them a one-point lead, 76-75, with just over seven minutes to play.

Tyrone Nash then scored in the paint to extend their cushion to three, but Ettihad eventually came alive in the closing minutes.

After Ahmed Khalifa sank a free-throw to tie the proceedings at 83-all, Early sank his goahead charity shots and then had a steal right after, resulting in a lay-up that put Ettihad ahead 87- 83 with a little over two minutes remaining.

Jordan Washington later had a three-point play that made it 90-86, but Hala’s Nash replied to get them back to within two.

But Mohammed Buallay scored on with a fast-break layup following a crucial Hassan Abbas turnover that virtually sealed the contest, and then Kuwayed pegged the final score with two more free-throws and five seconds on the clock.

Kowayed contributed 18 points coming off the bench and also had five assists, while Washington scored 15 and took down 13 rebounds.

Hussain Mohammed added 12 and Buallay 10 with seven assists in the win. Young finished with a game-high 30, including four three-pointers, in the losing effort.

Nash added 15 points and 14 boards, while Khalifa scored 14.