AL AHLI came alive late to claim a hard-earned 93-84 victory over fellow-title aspirants Riffa last night in their Round of Six clash in the 2018/2019 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Ahli used a decisive 9-0 run in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to overturn a second-half deficit and take full control of a tightly contested encounter.
American professional Marcel Jones had a monster effort for the winners, finishing with a game-high 33 points while also taking down 20 rebounds.
The result maintained Ahli’s winning ways in this stage of the season, having now claimed back-to-back victories in their first two games. Riffa, on the other hand, suffered a second successive defeat.
The Round of Six features a single round-robin, after which the top two teams go directly into the Golden Square semi-finals. The third-placed team then takes on the sixth-placed squad, while the fourth-ranked club battle their fifth-ranked counterparts in a pair of best-of-three series. The winners of each move on to the Golden Square.
Jones received plenty of help from his teammates in the game, with skipper Hesham Sarhan and Ali Aqeel both scoring 14 points. Sayed Hashim Habib chipped in with 12 markers, while ageless veteran Ahmed Mutawa contributed 11 points. Both Aqeel and Habib had three three-pointers in the contest, helping Ahli go for a solid 11-of-26 shooting from beyond the arc.
Mohammed Kuwayed paced Riffa with an all-around effort of 24 points, including four triples, 10 rebounds and six assists. He also had two steals and three blocks. Brother Younes Kuwayed added 19 and three three-pointers, while Subah Hussain scored 15. Newly signed import Shawne Williams from the US had an unremarkable debut, scoring just seven points on two-of-11 from the field including zero makes out of six attempts from long distance to go along with just two rebounds and seven turnovers.
The game was close from the opening tip and neither team could build a significant lead over the first three quarters.
Riffa had a slim 24-23 advantage at the end of the first quarter, which they turned to a 47-46 lead at the half-time break. They managed to move ahead 69-66 at the end of the third, and in the fourth went up 72-68 on a Mohammed Kuwayed three-point play.
Both teams were trade baskets the next several possessions until an 82-all tie with four minutes to play. Ahli then went on a game-changing rally with nine unanswered points capped by a Jones driving lay-up to make it 91-82 at the two-and-a-half-minute mark.
Each side managed just two more points from there to peg the final score.