BAHRAIN teams made a winning start last night in the 37th GCC Clubs Basketball Championship at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.
Favourites Manama routed Oman’s Al Etifaq 82-50 while Bahrain’s other participants Al Ahli enjoyed a similarly comfortable 72-47 victory over Qatar’s Al Saad.
In the other match, defending champions Al Ahli from the UAE easily disposed of Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad 90-76.
Manama’s victory last night was a complete team effort as is evident by the fact that all 12 players managed to get onto the score sheet.
Georgian import Nikoloz Tsktishvili led the way with 18 points, including a pair from beyond the arc. Fellow-professional Kadeem Coleby from the Bahamas added 13, while both had five rebounds.
Mohammed Hussain chipped in with another 11 points.
Manama needed a quarter to get their motor running efficiently, and when it did, there was no stopping them. The Bahrainis held a narrow 16-15 advantage at the end of the opening period but a key second quarter, where they poured in 22 points while conceding only five, put them on a comfortable road to victory.
Manama managed to stretch their lead to over 30 points after the interval and did well to close out their rivals with their bench players.
American-Nigerian professional Robert Anshila scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Etifaq.
In the other match, Al Ahli led 22-12 at the end of the first quarter and then 40-26 heading into the half-time break. They then outscored Saad 19-9 in the third and never looked back.
Hussain Shaker and big man Sabah Hussain scored 12 points apiece for the winners. American guard Orien Greene had 11 points and 15 rebounds while seven-foot, one-inch Slovenian Primoz Brezec added 10 points while collecting nine rebounds.
Kendrick Brown top scored for Al Saad with 29 points.
Campaign
In yesterday’s opening game of the tournament, defending champions Al Ahli of the UAE kicked off their campaign with a resounding 90-76 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad.
Ahli pulled away with a strong second quarter where they outscored their rivals 29-16. The final score was not a fair indication of the one-sided nature of the game, as Ittihad were able to narrow the gap in the final few minutes.
Sam Young had 24 points for Ahli. Qais Alshehabi contributed 16 and Talal Alnuaimi 15 while American Mitchell Watt had a near triple-double finishing with 11 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Quintrell Thomas led Ittihad with 20 points and 18.
TONIGHT’S MATCHES
4pm: Al Shabab (UAE) vs Al Rayyan (QAT)
6pm: Al Saad (QAT) vs Al Ahli (UAE)
8pm: Al Ittihad (KSA) vs Al Ahli (BRN)