BAHRAIN outclassed Iraq 71-65 early this morning in their opening game of the first-ever Bahrain International Basketball Championship, being played at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.
The Bahrainis ended the contest strong and came up with the key baskets down the stretch to claim a commendable win. Mohammed Kuwayed spearheaded a balanced attack for the hosts with 20 point.
Bahrain will be looking to make it back-to-back wins tonight when they face Egypt in their second assignment of the competition, scheduled for a 9pm tip-off at Zain arena.
The Egyptians were victorious yesterday 71-60 in their opening fixture against Lebanon.
The four-nation competition is being held following the directives of Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. The Bahrainis are also using this event as part of their preparations for their upcoming games in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers, to be held next month in Dubai.
Bahrain started the game strong against Iraq, and behind seven early points from Mohammed Hussain and six from Hussain Shaker, led after the first quarter 20-17. They built a nine-point lead, 28-19, midway through the second with a Mohammed Kuwayed jump shot, but Iraq came alive with a 16-7 run to end the period tied at 35-apiece.
Lead
In the third, Bahrain tried to step things up and managed to build a 54-45 lead on another Kuwyed basket, but Iraq’s Ali Hatem tipped in a miss to make it 54-47 heading into the final canto.
In the fourth, Iraq came out firing and and scored 10 unanswered points, capped by a Thulfaqar Hamoodi jumper, gave Iraq a 55-54 lead.
But Bahrain continued to fight, and back-to-back triples from guards Maytham Jameel and Shaker put the Bahrainis in front 60-57 with just under five minutes to play. A slam dunk by Mohammed Ameer and two free-throws from Kuwayed made it 65-59, and then an Ahmed Abdulaziz three-pointer stretched their lead even further with just two minutes to go.
Iraq came no closer than six points the rest of the way, which was the gap at the end of the game.
Joining Kuwayed at the top of the scoresheet were Shaker with 16, Abdulaziz with 14 and Subah Hussain coming off the bench with 10. Shaker also had an impressive seven rebounds and six assists.
Hatem paced Iraq with 25 points while Ali Moayyad had 10.
In yesterday’s earlier game, Egyptians closed the contest strong to turn a slim 45-43 advantage to the 11-point win.
They led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and then 34-27 at the half. Lebanon battled back in the third, but Egypt came up with the big plays in the end.
Omar Oraby top scored for the winners with 20 points. He also had nine rebounds and blocked four shots. For Lebanon, Elias Rustom led their scorers with 14. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals in the loss.