HUSSAIN Shaker made two pressure-packed free-throws with two seconds to play to help Al Ahli escape with an 82-78 victory over Nuwaidrat last night in the Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Hussain Hasan buried a three-pointer to get Nuwaidrat to within two points, 78-80, and five seconds remaining, but on the ensuing play star guard Shaker displayed his veteran savvy by swishing home both charity shots and sealing the win.
Ahli were made to sweat as they almost gave away a 79-71 advantage with less than a minute in the game.
Ahli were in ful control earlier, taking a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter and extending it to 41-30 at the half. They maintained a healthy 63-56 gap heading into the final canto, which paved the way for the tight finish.
Kadhem Majed led a balanced Ahli attack with 21 points, including four triples. He also had six rebounds and four assists.
American professional Ryan Wright added 16 points and five rebounds before fouling out with less than two minutes to play.
Shaker added 14 points and nine assists, while Hesham Sarhan and Subah Hussain finished with 11 points apiece. Hussain also grabbed 12 rebounds to help control the paint.
Improving
Nuwaidrat’s Serbian giant Mile Ilic had 20 points, 23 rebounds and five assists to spearhead his team in the loss. They also had five players in double figures, with Ebrahim Albasri scoring 19, Ahmed Hassan 14, Hussain Hasan 11 and Jawad Abdulla finishing with 13 points and nine assists.
With the result, Ahli moved to solo first place after improving their win-loss record to 17-4. They have 38 points on the league standings, one ahead of defending champions Manama who have played two games less. Nuwaidrat dropped to a 14-7 mark, but remained in the top four with 35 points.
In yesterday’s other game, Riffa held on for a hard-earned 82-77 win against Al Najma.
After leading for much of the game and taking a 63-47 lead into the final quarter, Riffa allowed Najma to fight back with a 30-point fourth period.
Najma got to within two points, 77-79, on a Fadhelallah Abbas lay-up with 41 seconds remaining, but it was as close as they would get as US import Marcel Jones was able to put the game away for Riffa with three free-throws on their ensuing two possessions.
Riffa rose to a 13-8 record with 34 points on the league table, while Najma slid to an 11-9 mark with 31 points.
League action continues tonight with Al Hala taking on Manama at 6pm, to be followed at 7.45pm by Al Hidd facing Al Ettihad.