MUHARRAQ and Sitra posted contrasting victories last night during the sixth week of action in the 2018/2019 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Muharraq routed Samaheej 100-58 while Sitra edged past Nuwaidrat 78-75.
Both games were played at Zain Arena in Um Al Hassam.
Muharraq erupted for 34 points in the first quarter of their game, while holding Samaheej to just eight. It was all one-sided from there.
The victors stretched their advantage to 60-26 at the half, and then to 91-35 at the end of the third quarter. The final canto was a mere formality.
Muharraq enjoyed leads of up to 59 points in the game.
Six of their players scored in double-figures. Mohammed Hassan and Ali Rabeea had 16 points apiece, with Hassan burying three three-pointers. Captain Ahmed Hassan had 15 markers, all from beyond the arc.
Sayed Kadhem Majed chipped in 14 points, while American import and former NBA forward Sean Williams added a near triple-double of 12 points, nine rebounds and a monster nine blocked shots.
Bader Abdulla Malabes scored 10 points.
Samaheej were paced by Ahmed Mohammed Jaffar who had 14 points in the loss.
With the result, Muharra stayed unbeaten in six games, while Samaheej were on the other end of the table after remaining winless in six tries.
In yesterday’s other game, skipper Hussain Taqi buried two free-throws with seven seconds to play to ice the three-point win for Sitra.
His charity shots made it 78-72 to put the game out of reach. Nuwaidrat’s Ebrahim Albasri buried a triple the very next play, but they could not manage a game-tying attempt in the end.
It was a high-scoring fourth quarter for both teams. Sitra had a 53-47 edge heading into the period.
Senegalese professional Mansour Kasse led Sitra with 30 points. He also had 22 rebounds and three steals in nearly 40 minutes of work.
Taqi added 16 markers, nine assists and four steals, while Mohayad Ameer finished with 15 and 10 rebounds.
American Ronnie Aguilar had 23 points and 20 rebounds to spearheaded Nuwaidrat. Hassan Abbas added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Albasri finished with 13 markers, including three three-pointers.
Sitra scored their second win in the league to go along with two losses, while Nuwaidrat were dealt their fourth loss; they also have one win.
League action continues tonight with another two games on the cards. At 5.45pm, Al Hala take on Bahrain Club, followed at 7.45pm by Al Najma taking on Al Ettihad.