MUHARRAQ and Manama last night set up an exciting all-Bahraini semi-final clash in the 38th Gulf Clubs Basketball Championship in Muscat.
Muharraq outshown Nizwa of Oman 87-72 and Manama outplayed Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia 93-76 at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
Their semi-final battle is scheduled for tomorrow at 3pm, Bahrain time, prior to the other final four fixture at 5pm between Qatar’s Al Arabi and the UAE’s Sharjah.
Arabi defeated their compatriots from Al Rayyan 74-67 in the other quarter-final last night, while Sharjah had previously gained an automatic spot into the semi-final.
Aside from the Gulf Clubs title, the remaining four teams are vying for a single qualifying berth in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup to be held later this year.
Muharraq left it late before claiming their hard-earned victory over Nizwa. With the game tied at 72-apiece and just seven minutes left on the clock, Muharraq went on a decisive 15-0 run to the final buzzer.
Forward Sayed Hashim Habib sparked the surge with a three-pointer from the left corner and later guard Ali Abbas capped things off with a driving lay-up with just seconds to go in the contest.
American professional Demarius Bolds and Sudanese-born Australian-Lebanese Ater Majok were also instrumental in the rally, contributing six and four points respectively.
Earlier, Muharraq could not distance themselves from their inspired Omani rivals and were in danger of an embarrassing upset.
Nizwa had even taken a 68-65 lead early in the final canto.
Muharraq trailed 14-17 after the first quarter, but bounced back in the second to tie the proceedings at 40-all at the break. Nizwa held a slim 66-65 advantage after three quarters, and that paved the way for Muharraq’s end-game run.
Impressive
Bolds led with an impressive 40 points while also registering six rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. Majok added 24 points from an efficient 10-of-11 from the field.
They were the only Muharraq players in double-figures; Abbas contributed eight and Mohammed Buallay seven points.
Ahmed Alhalhali top scored for Nizwa with 19 points, including five three-pointers. American Aaron Randolph Mitchell added 15 in the losing effort.
Meanwhile, Bahrain champions used a strong second quarter to distance themselves from their rivals and then did well to hold on to a solid lead the rest of the way.
Manama were up 24-23 eight minutes before the interval but then headed into the break up 48-38. They led by as many as 23 points the rest of the way.
American import Terrell Stoglin paced a balanced Manama attack with 18 points. Countryman and fellow-professional Loren Woods added 11 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks.
Leading Manama’s Bahraini scorers was Mohammed Ameer, who had 16 points and eight rebounds; Hassan Nowrooz 13; Maytham Jameel 12, all of which came from beyond the three-point arc; and Mohammed Kuwayed finished with 11.
Watkins Williams II led Ittihad with 19 points and Marko Dujkovic added 16 and 17 rebounds.