AL AHLI thrashed Al Ettihad 78-46 last night to mark a successful return for court general Hussain Shaker in the Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Also yesterday, Riffa used a strong finish to comfortably dispose of Al Hidd 83-57.
Both games were played at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam and they capped the 20th week of action in the league’s preliminary round.
Title-contenders Ahli were the aggressors throughout their contest against Ettihad.
Inspired by the return of their long-time leader Shaker, who had missed their last few games, they went ahead 38-27 at half-time and never looked back. Their 18-8 third quarter extended their lead even further, and in the fourth they cruised to thewhistle while enjoying leads as big as 32 points.
American professional Ryan Wright led with 24 points. He also had 12 rebounds.
Shaker came off the bench and didn’t seem to miss a beat, scoring 14 while also taking down four rebounds and dishing out four assists. Ali Aqeel added 12 and Kadhem Majed 10.
Antwan Wilkerson had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Ettihad. He received little help from elsewhere, as Sayed Mohammed Hameed was the only other double-digit scorer with 10 points.
Following the result, Ahli improved to a 16-3 win-loss record and they are now on 35 points, tied with top-ranked defending champions Manama.
Ettihad dropped to 9-9 as they remain at the bottom half of the table with 27 markers.
in yesterday’s other game, Riffa turned a tight contest into a runaway victory with a 31-12 fourth quarter.
Decisive
The victors were ahead 52-45 at the end of the third quarter, but, Riffa went on their decisive run and finished the game with their biggest lead of the night of 26.
US import Marcel Jones had a monster effort of 36 points and 25 rebounds for Riffa. Sayed Saleh Mahdi contributed 14 points including four three-pointers and seven assists, while Mohammed Nabeel 13.
American Troy Jones paced Hidd’s attack with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Hussain Lulu chipped in with 19. Both Jones and Lulu played the full 40 minutes for Hidd.
Riffa have 11-8 win-loss record with 30 points while Hidd fell to a 2-16 mark with just 20 points.