MANAMA play Al Nasr Riyadh tonight in a West Asia Super League (WASL)-Gulf Region Group B game at the Zain Basketball Arena.
Currently second in the four-team table with five points, Manama will be seeking their second successive win in the tournament after defeating Al Sadd, 99-94, in Doha two weeks ago.
Led by national team player Hasan Nowrooz, the team beat Al Nasr 75-72 in Riyadh last December but lost their next game narrowly, 88-91, to group leaders Kuwait, who have six points after winning all their three games thus far.
With Bosnian coach Alen Abaz in charge and Tunisian assistant coach Abdulaziz Khalef as his deputy, the Manama side is a tightly-knit unit, with a blend of highly talented local players and some sensational foreign imports.
Young Mustafa Husain, 21, who also plays for Bahrain, has been in prime form during the first three games, averaging 11 points per game, with Nowrooz close behind, averaging 10 points per match.
The team’s leading scorer is American Elijah Robinson, who averages 17.7 points per game, supported ably by compatriots, Lamonte Ulmer and Charles Garcia.
Al Nasr, meanwhile, will be looking to get some points on the board after a disastrous start to the tournament has seen them lose all three of their matches.
The WASL, a new pan-regional league, was announced last August by FIBA, the sport’s international governing body, for top professional basketball clubs from West Asia, the Arabian Gulf, India and Kazakhstan.
The tournament was inaugurated last December. Featuring 18 top clubs from 16 countries representing four out of the six Sub-Zones in the FIBA Asia Region, the championship is scheduled to run until May.
The WASL champions and runners-up will qualify for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023 which, in turn, provides the pathway to the Intercontinental Cup, FIBA’s leading club competition.
The game will start at 6pm.