BAHRAIN fell to a 102-99 defeat against Saudi Arabia in the 22nd Arab Basketball Championship held in Egypt yesterday.
Bahrain’s coach Salman Ramadan fielded a lineup consisting of Hussain Shaker, Hassan Nooroz, Sabah Hussain, Ahmed Abdelaziz and Malcolm, hoping to register a strong start. They put defensive pressure on Saudi Arabia and depended on counter attacks.
However, Saudi Arabia took advantage of their attacking prowess to gain a strong lead initially. Bahrain later fought back and ended the first quarter losing 17-18.
The second quarter saw Bahrain start off on a hight note. They surged to lead taking advantage of their chances under the ring and through quick counter attacks.
Saudi Arabia managed to bounce back and level the score but a strong performance enabled Bahrain to finish the second quarter leading 35-32.
Nooroz was the man of the moment in the third quarter as his three-pointers gave Bahrain a strong lead. However, the second half of the third quarter saw Bahrain being overpowered by Saudi’s better physique but they still managed to finish the third quarter leading 53-50.
Saudi fought back in the fourth quarter and managed to level the score at 67-67 taking the match to overtime.
The overtime witnessed a series of referee errors which resulted in the team playing with one player less for most of the time and ending up losing 102-99.
Bahrain will look to keep their semi-final hopes alive when they face Morocco today in the fourth game. The game takes place at 3pm (local time)
“We know the level of responsibility on us in our last game. The game is important to us and is a big challenge,” Bahrain’s basketball player Ahmed Hassan Al Derazi said.
Bahrain had lost in the opening game against Egypt 68-74 and then defeated the UAE 70-62.