Manama power to big win

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Manama Club coasted to a resounding 130-83 victory over an undermanned Al Shamal of Qatar last night in the 2023/2024 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL).

The Kingdom’s representatives, and WASL defending champions, took a big lead early and never looked back.

They stayed undefeated after five games and have just one fixture left to play in Group B of the competition’s preliminary round of the Gulf sub-zone.

They are virtually assured of first place in their pool and a direct berth to the zonal semi-finals, which will be played in best-of-three format.

Manama were in control from the opening tip and led by as many as 50 points in the contest, which was held at Al Gharafa Sports Club in Doha.

A huge first quarter earned them a 31-13 cushion, and they extended their lead to 63-30 at the half—an almost-insurmountable gap.

They continued to pile on the pressure in the third and took a commanding 95-52 advantage into the final stanza, where they cruised to the finish line for their fifth win in as many outings.

Manama were on fire in the contest and scored over 30 points in each of the four quarters.

They were an efficient 53- for-89 from the field for a 60-per cent shooting clip, and outrebounded their opponents 53-29.

Newly signed professional Cameron Clark spearheaded the victors with 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, while Bahraini court general Ahmed Salman added 21 points, including six three-pointers.

Triple-double Sir’Dominic Pointer scored 18 for Manama and almost had a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight assists, while Hassan Nowrooz added 15, all from beyond the three-point arc.

Travin Thibodeaux scored 13 and took down 11 boards frot eh Bahrainis, who also got 11 points from Emran Ali as their last player in double figures.

Eleven of Manama’s 12-man roster made it onto the score sheet in the game.

Uche Iroegbu had 37 points and 10 rebounds to pace Shamal, who only had six players take to the hardwood.

Tyler James Lee Harris had 24. No other player scored more than nine points. Shamal remained winless in their five games.

Following their win, Manama play one last time in Group B against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai of the UAE at home on Tuesday next week.

Manama are one of two Bahraini clubs in this season’s FIBA WASL competition.

The other are Muharraq in Group A. Muharraq are currently second on their table with a 3-2 win-loss record.

At the end of the double round-robin, the top seeds from each pool qualify directly to the final four.

The second and thirdranked teams will play for the other semis berths, also in a bestof-three.

The top three in the Gulf subzone will then make it to the FIBA WASL Final Eight along with the best trio from the WASL West Asia sub-zone and the champion teams from South Asia and Central Asia.