RIFFA roared to an emphatic 76-61 victory over Muharraq last night to lift this year’s Khalifa bin Salman Cup.
Nicknamed “The Lions”, Riffa stunned their opponents with a dominant performance in the highly anticipated single-game final and made good on their claim as the kings of Bahrain’s basketball jungle.
Riffa led by as many as 19 points in the contest and had all the answers whenever Muharraq threatened to make any kind of comeback.
The result earned Riffa their first-ever championship in any national basketball competition. It also avenged the three-game sweep they suffered against Muharraq in the best-of-five finals of the league last month.
Presenting Riffa the Khalifa bin Salman Cup and their individual medals were Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Bahrain Basketball Association president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. Shaikh Isa bin Salman and Shaikh Isa bin Ali also handed over the medals to runners-up Muharraq.
Aside from the prestigious cup and their other silverware, Riffa also came away with a cool BD30,000 in prize money. Muharraq won BD15,000.
American Arinze Onuaku, Senegalese Mansour Kasse and Bahraini stars Mohammed Buallay and Kuwayed brothers Mohammed and Younes were the main protagonists for Riffa.
Onuaku top scored for his team with 23 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Buallay chipped in with 18 markers including three three-pointers, as he also did well to orchestrate Riffa’s offence being their designated ball-handler.
Mohammed Kuwayed added 15 and seven rebounds while playing the full 40 minutes, and Younes had seven points and six rebounds.
Kasse finished with nine markers and 18 boards as he and Onuaku controlled the paint for Riffa.
Only two players scored in double-figures for Muharraq, as the sweet perimeter-marksmanship they are so well known for went completely missing last night. Americans Kevin Murphy and Mike Harris combined for 39 of their total output, with 28 coming from Murphy including 13 rebounds.
Murphy almost single-handedly kept his team hopeful for a late surge, but it never came. Their shooting woes were evident in their 23-for-68 game total. More than half of their attempts came from behind the three-point line, where they shot a dismal eight-for-35 for a 22 per cent clip.
Muharraq’s Bahraini stars were off for the night, with Bader Abdulla Malabes and Ahmed Aldurazi both finishing with just three points. Mohammed Juma’a had eight points and Mohammed Aldurazi had six off the bench.
Muharraq took their only lead of the fixture, 5-4, at the beginning of the first quarter, which Riffa ended up 22-14. The victors managed to stretch their lead to 40-25 at the half, but in the third, Muharraq got back to within 10 although Kasse buried a triple right before the quarter buzzer to make it 59-46 heading into the final canto.
Muharraq again cut Riffa’s lead to 10 on a Murphy lay-up, but that was as close as they would get until the end and Mohammed Kuwayed swished in a three-pointer to further deflate their hopes.