RIFFA posted a thrilling 82-77 victory over Al Najma last night while Al Ahli trounced Bahrain Club 105-54 during the third week of action in the 2018/2019 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Both games were played at Zain Arena in Um Al Hassam.
Riffa claimed their second win in as many games while handing Najma their second loss in three outings. Ahli, meanwhile, bounced back from a loss last week to claim win number two in three contests, whereas Bahrain Club suffered their third straight defeat.
In Riffa’s nail-biter, star forward Mohammed Kuwayed came up big for his team in the clutch. Riffa had built a big lead early in the game, but Najma roared back and midway through the fourth took a stunning 68-67 lead on a jump shot made by American professional Kevin Rogers.
Two free-throws by Fadalallah Abbas extended their advantage to three, and then back-to-back baskets from Mohammed Buallay and Qassim Hassan put Najma ahead 74-67 with just three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Riffa, however, fought back, and Kuwayed was the catalyst. He scored five straight points to bring them to within two, and then teammate Ali Jassim levelled the proceedings at 74-all with a minute and 22 seconds remaining.
A Jassim free-throw and then another four points from Kuwayed put Riffa in the lead for good, 79-74, and even after a Buallay triple narrowed the gap to two, Riffa’s Slovenian big man Sasa Zagorac and Abdulrahman Ghali both had answers to peg the final score.
Lucky
Riffa were lucky to escape with the win, as they had squandered a commanding 28-13 lead after the first quarter, which they turned to a 49-28 advantage at the interval. They led by as many as 23 points in the game, but Najma played an inspired second half, only to come up short in the end.
Kuwayed had a fine double-double for Riffa with 31 points and 10 rebounds. He also had four blocks but committed eight turnovers. Zagorac finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while guard Mohammed Abdulmajeed contributed 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kuwayed, Zagorac and Abdulmajeed each buried three triples in the game.
Rogers paced Najma with 25 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes of work. Buallay had a fine, all-around effort of 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists while Hassan and Hussain Mohammed each contributed 13 markers, with Mohammed firing in four three-pointers.
In Ahli’s huge, 51-point win, Bahrain Club did well to keep things respectable early on until Ahli started to run away with things in the second quarter.
The 52-35 half-time score became 83-47 after three quarters, before Ahli cruised in the final canto to close the game out with the massive winning margin, which was also their biggest lead of the night.
American Marcel Jones led five Ahli players in double-figures. Jones had 28 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, while skipper Hesham Sarhan added 15. Sayed Hashem and Hasan Ali Alsayed both finished with 13 while connecting on three triples apiece, while Ahmed Ali Hussain added 11 points.
American Lester Ferguson paced Bahrain Club with 20 points and nine rebounds.
League action continues tonight to wrap up week three. Isa Town plays Bahrain’s under-18 national team at 6pm, followed at 7.45pm by Nuwaidrat battling Al Hala.