AL NAJMA came away with a stunning 78-61 upset over Muharraq last night during the 12th week of action in the Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
American professional Haminn Quaintance came up with a monster effort of 22 points, 26 rebounds and five assists to spearhead Najma against their heavily favoured rivals.
Najma took control of the game early on and enjoyed a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. They never relinquished their advantage, and went up by as many as 22 points in the process.
Najma were dominant within 15 feet, outscoring Muharraq 44-28 in the painted area. They were also superior on the fast break, finishing the game with 21 points in transition while Muharraq only had seven.
Muharraq’s key players on their starting five were saddled with foul trouble in the game. Bader Abdulla Malabes, Ahmed Hassan and Jehad Ahmed all finished with four fouls while US import Jordan Richard fouled out early in the fourth quarter and was held to just 25 minutes.
Guard Qassim Hassan contributed 16 points for Najma while Mohammed Alboosta scored 11 off the bench, including three three-pointers. Abbas Jawadi finished with nine markers and Mohammed Buallay had seven.
Struggle
Malabes paced Muharraq with 15 in the loss. He struggled from the field shooting 2-for-13. Ahmed Salman and Mohammed Abdulmajeed each had 10, while Richard was held to a low of just three points.
With the result, Najma improved to a 6-5 win-loss record with 12 points on the league table. Muharraq suffered only their second defeat to go along with nine wins as they are on 18 points.
In yesterday’s other game, Al Ahli comfortably defeated Bahrain Club 76-57.
After trailing in the early stages, Ahli surged to the lead in the second quarter and continued to pile on the pressure in the third, needing only to cruise to the big win in the final canto.
Former NBA first round pick Ndudi Ebi had 23 points, eight rebounds and five steals to lead Ahli, who enjoyed a biggest lead of 28 points in the contest.
Ali Aqeel contributed 14 while Hesham Sarhan had 11 and Hassan Alarabi 10.
Merrill Holden led Bahrain Club with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. He was their only player in double figures.
Ahli forged a tie with Manama for first place on the standings with their 10th win in 11 games. Both teams have 20 points. Bahrain Club were dealt their eighth loss and had six points from three wins towards the bottom half of the standings.
League action continues tonight with Isa Town facing Riffa at 6pm, followed by Smaheej and Hidd battling at 7.45pm. The Samaheej-Hidd clash will be an interesting affair as both teams are currently winless.