Manama opened their Zain Bahrain Basketball League campaign this season with a resounding victory over Sitra yesterday.
The game at the Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam saw Manama assert their authority in all the quarters for a 98-61 win.
They made a rampant start taking the opening quarter 24-8 and maintained their dominance in the second quarter which they claimed 20-13 to lead 44-21 at half-time.
Manama were relentless in the second half as they won the third quarter 29-19 and claimed the final session 25-21.
Mohammed Ameer paced the winners with 27 points and 10 rebounds while teammates Hasan Nowrooz and Mohammed Hussain chipped in with 15 and 14 points respectively. For Sitra, Ali Eid scored 17 points and Hussain Safar contributed 16.
Later in the evening, C J Giles scored 35 points as Al Najma held off Bahrain Club 68-66 in an exciting encounter that went down to the wire.
Al Najma managed to keep Bahrain Club under check in the first half which they led 37-29. Bahrain Club put up a better show after the interval falling behind by just three points in the third quarter (19-16) before launching a fierce attack that raised hopes of an outstanding victory. The 21-12 final quarter attempt took Bahrain Club to the brink of victory, but it was so near and yet so far.
Ibrahima Thomas was the top scorer for Bahrain Club with 25 points and 13 rebounds. He was supported by Ali Abbas who scored 22 points.
The first round of the competition concludes tonight when Muharraq take on Al Ettihad at 7pm. The game will be held at Zain Arena.