Bahrain beat hosts Syria 76-67 last night in a stunning upset in their Group D encounter of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers round at the Al Hamadaniyeh Sports Arena in Aleppo.
A capacity crowd of 8,000 raucous, chanting home fans was first stunned into silence by Bahrain’s early ascendency in the first two quarters, then caused a disturbance in the game’s last few seconds when it became apparent that the visiting team were going to win comfortably.
Although Bahrain were playing for pride, knowing that they were already out of contention for the second round after having lost their previous four group games, including their home game against the Syrians last February, Syria needed to win last night to have any hope of making it to the next stage.
Instead, the hosts found themselves consigned to an unexpected defeat as a new-look Bahrain, under a new coach and featuring seven new players, played like a team on a mission from the start.
American-Bahraini Devon Dwayne Chism, nicknamed ‘Wayne’, starred with 20 points. But it was his overall presence on the court, along with his scoring ability, that made him the MVP, the team’s coach said.
“Wayne played a very good game,” head coach, Lithuanian Mindaugas Lukosius, who took charge just three months ago, told a press conference. “He was the key to our win, he passed the ball immaculately, made assists and was involved in offence as well.”
But the entire team had functioned brilliantly as a unit in what they had anticipated to be a tough game against a very good team playing in front of their home crowd, Lukosius added.
“This was a very good win because we had prepared hard for this game,” he continued. “We have seven new players in our squad but we played as a team. We had made a plan to stop their shooters and target their big guys and we did that successfully.”
Bahrain took the lead early in the first quarter, even as the expectant crowd chanted continuously in support of the home team, surging to a 9-2 lead in the first few minutes thanks to a couple of three-pointers by the electric Ahmed Alderazi. Caught on the back foot, the Syrians struggled to keep up but, by the time the quarter ended, Bahrain were leading 20-8.
Things quickly got worse for the Syrians in the second quarter as Bahrain surged further ahead, courtesy of a couple of two-pointers by Chism, another by captain Maitham Jameel and a three-pointer by Mohammed Ameer.
Halfway through the quarter, the crowd looked up to see the scoreboard reading 32-12 in favour of Bahrain and the frequency and volume of the chanting began to drop.
Although Syria’s Amir Jabbar Hinton, who would eventually finish with 34 points for the game, kept on scoring regularly, the Bahrainis left the court at half time, leading 39-27.
Syria, doubtless spurred on by a pep talk from their coach during the interval, launched an all-out attack upon their return on the hitherto impeccable Bahraini defence with Hinton contributing four two-pointers as the hosts crept up to within five points of the visitor’s tally at 36-41 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
But Bahrain had momentum – and a psychological advantage – on their side and they pegged away at the Syrians’ defence, finishing the quarter still six points ahead at 54-48.
The crowd had now become considerably muted, although they would make their appreciation known rather loudly whenever Syria scored in the fourth quarter. But they were always playing catch-up as Bahrain pulled further ahead, leading 66-54 with just five minutes left in the game.
With Bahrain’s Mustafa Husein, Alderazi and Ali Husein also making their presence felt, the visitors crept further ahead and, with just seven seconds left, were leading 76-63 when the dismayed crowd decided to make its displeasure known by throwing anything they could in the direction of the court.
After a forced stoppage, during which the troublemakers were ejected from the arena, Syria managed to get four free throws due to a technical foul. But the game was already lost and, when the final buzzer sounded, Bahrain had clinched a most famous victory.
“We knew it was a tough game so we had prepared hard for it,” captain Jameel told reporters at the press conference. “This was a big improvement but we still have one more game to go against Kazakhstan on Monday. We will stay focused and prove ourselves in that match also.”
Kazakhstan currently lead the four-team table, with Iran, whom they beat, also yesterday, in second place.
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