Defending champions Manama pulled off one of the greatest heists in sporting history last night as they beat arch-rivals Muharraq, 104-100, after first forcing game two of the best-of-five 2022-23 Zain Basketball League final series into five minutes of overtime and then keeping their nerve in the last few heart-stopping moments of the match at the Khalifa Sports City Arena to go 2-0 up in the contest.
As the game entered its two minutes of regular time, Muharraq led 92-81 and their supporters, who had occupied half the 3,600-seat arena, danced with joy believing they had the match won already.
Brothers Ali and Mustafa Husain then combined to add seven points for Manama over the next 50 seconds with the scoreboard reading 92-88 for Muharraq and just about a minute left till the final buzzer.
Then, it was the turn of the Manama fans, who occupied the other half of the hall, to celebrate joyously as a Mustafa Husain three-point jump shot took them to within one point of Muharraq, at 92-91.
There were only 58 seconds left on the clock now and both teams sought to make them count.
Neither could manage to score for the next 47 seconds, however, until a personal foul on Muharraq’s Hussain Salman presented him with two free throws and a golden chance to lead his team to victory.
With just 11 seconds left till the final buzzer, all Salman had to do was make sure he scored off both free throws.
But he missed the first throw, sending the Manama fans into a frenzy of excitement, before nailing the second one to make it 93-91 for Muharraq.
Could Manama somehow get a two-pointer to level the scores in the 11 seconds left and force a five-minute overtime play-off? Or could they score a three-pointer to win outright?
As the clock ticked down and the Muharraq fans cheered louder and louder, it looked like Manama would fail to do either.
Until Ali Husain got his hands on the ball in the Muharraq area with literally a second to go and somehow made a perfect two-point driving layup to tie the score at 93-93 and force the five-minute play-off.
The Manama fans were now delirious with glee. In a stand filled only with dozens of their female supporters, a young teenaged girl, overcome by emotion, had fainted and her friends gathered around her with concern.
But she came to within seconds and was soon on her feet again, singing and cheering with the rest of her team’s fans while the Muharraq section looked shell-shocked.
Soon, the players were back on court for the final five minutes of the see-saw game and neither team appeared willing to give an inch as the seconds ticked by.
After Shabazz Muhammad had put Muharraq ahead, 95-93, with a two-point layup, Ali Husain replied almost instantly with a two-point layup of his own to allow Manama to draw level at 95-95 with slightly more than four minutes left.
About 30 seconds later, Ali Husain was in action again with a two-point driving layup that pushed Manama ahead at 97-95.
Muharraq then leapt one point ahead after another 15 seconds through a three-point jump shot by Mahmood Isa with the scoreboard reading 98-97 and about three-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
Just seconds later, Manama had skipped into a one point lead, at 99-98 thanks to the other Husain brother, Mustafa, who scored a two-point layup.
The pendulum shifted again towards Muharraq, courtesy of a two-point floating jump shot by Shabazz Muhammad and, with just about two-and-a-half minutes to go, the team in red led by one again, at 100-99.
Soon, however, the scales were level again when, after a personal foul on Manama’s Mohammed Ameer, he scored off his first free throw but missed the second.
With two minutes left in the game, the scoreboard now read 100-100 and that set the stage for an extraordinary period of play for the next 52 seconds as neither team was able to score.
Until a foul on Manama’s Ahmed Aldurazi handed him two free throws and he scored off both to put his team ahead, 102-100, and just about 65 seconds left till the end of an incredible basketball game.
As the final minute of the match began to play out, both teams missed a series of chances in their desperation to try and seal a win. In the stands, both sets of supporters were now trying to out-shout and out-sing the other.
Finally, with exactly four seconds left, a massive cheer went up from the Manama side of the hall as the referee awarded two free throws to Ali Husain after a blatant foul on him.
If he scored off one and missed the other, that would make the score 103-100 with four seconds theoretically being enough time for a Muharraq player to gather the ball and try for a three-pointer to tie the game.
But, if Husain scored off both, it would make the score 104-100 and not even a three-pointer would bring Muharraq back into the contest.
And, fittingly, Husain – who had earlier forced the game into overtime – scored off both and the Manama supporters in the stands just couldn’t contain their joy as they screamed with disbelief and hugged each other while the Muharraq fans streamed dejectedly out of the arena.