CURTIS Washington erupted for a whopping 46 points last night to lift Nuwaidrat to a 99-70 victory over Al Najma in the 2018/2019 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Muharraq were also winners yesterday, but they enjoyed a balanced attack with all five of their starters scoring in double-figures in a comfortable 86-59 triumph over Bahrain Club.
Both games were played at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam, and they capped the 12th week of action in the season.
In Nuwaidrat’s win, Washington went 18-for-31 from the field, including five three-pointers. The six-foot, 10-inch recently signed American also took down 19 rebounds as he almost single-handedly led his team to the win.
Hassan Abbas and Mohamed Batti each added 12 markers while Husain Hasan had 11.
Nuwaidrat were down 18-21 at the end of the first quarter but managed to take a 42-37 lead into the half. They then poured in 31 points in the third while holding Najma to just 11 to blew the close game wide open, and they cruised the rest of the way.
Najma’s Fadalallah Abbas had 20 points to pace his team in the loss, while versatile forward Mohammed Buallay nearly had a triple double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. He, however, also registered seven turnovers.
US import Kevin Rogers was held to just 12 points to go with 11 rebounds.
With the result, Nuwaidrat claimed only their second win of the season after 10 games. Najma suffered their fifth loss, to go along with the same number of wins.
In yesterday’s other game, Muharraq raced out to a quick lead and never looked back.
They went ahead 25-15 after the opening period and then stretched their advantage to 45-24 at the interval. They didn’t let up in the second half as they sailed towards the final result, enjoying leads as big as 30 points in the process.
American CJ Giles led their team’s scorers with 20. He also had 14 rebounds and four steals.
Ahmed Hassan Aldurazi finished with 15 while dishing out an impressive 11 assists. Mohammed Juma’a added 12, Bader Abdulla Malabes 11 and Ali Asghar 10. Both Aldurazi and Malabes had three three-pointers apiece in the game.
Lester Ferguson paced Bahrain Club with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but he received little help from elsewhere, finishing as their only player in double-figures.
Muharraq came away with their 10th victory in 11 outings with last night’s triumph. Bahrain Club were dealt their eighth loss to go with just two wins.