BASKETBALL – AL Ittihad Alexandria of Egypt lifted the 2024-25 Bahrain Egypt Super Cup last night after defeating home team Manama 77-63 at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.
Ittihad Alexandria used a furious 18-3 run – spanning the end of the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth – to turn a close game wide open and power ahead to the victory.
They enjoyed leads as big as 17 points en route to the final buzzer to claim their second trophy in three days in the kingdom Ittihad Alexandria had also won the Egyptian Super Cup after defeating their countrymen from Al Ahly 87-84 in a thrilling, double-overtime encounter held Thursday night.
That set up their meeting with Manama, who won the Bahrain Super Cup on Friday evening after beating bitter rivals Al Ahli 80-72.
Following last night’s clash, the winners and runners-up were presented their respective trophies and medals in an awarding ceremony attended by Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, General Sports Authority (GSA) CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar, Bahrain Basketball Association president Alaa Mudara, Egyptian Basketball Federation president Amr Mouselhy, and other officials.
This year’s Bahrain Egypt Super Cup was held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, GSA chairman, and BOC president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Ahly finished the weekend’s events in third place overall after beating Bahrain’s Ahli 88-82.
The Bahrain Egypt Super Cup took place as the opening event of the new national basketball season in the kingdom.
In last night’s feature game, Ittihad Alexandria had a narrow 15-11 lead at the end of the first period but Manama fought back in the second and an Ahmed Salman three-pointer right before the half gave the Bahrainis a slim 33-31 advantage.
The game remained close in the third with both teams playing to a 50-all deadlock and only a minute to play in the quarter. Will Cherry then buried a triple that put the visitors ahead 53-50.
Cherry’s basket was the catalyst in Ittihad Alexandria’s game-changing 18-3 rally, which was capped by a Youssef Shousha lay-up that extended the gap to a commanding 68-53 with just over six minutes left.
Manama never recovered, and got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Anas Osama scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack for the victors. He also had 13 rebounds and five assists in their win. Shousha contributed 11 points and eight assists while Ahmed Abo Al Mulla scored 10. Yousif Shahata and Ahmed Adel chipped in with nine points apiece.
Salman and AJ John had 15 each to pace Manama in the loss. John also took down 13 rebounds. Clinton Chapman added 14, while no other player scored more than six points.
In Ahly’s win for third place, they took a comfortable 68-58 cushion in the final frame and held on until the end.
Bahrain’s Ahli got to within 82-86 following a Jordan Stevens three-pointer but with only 24 seconds remaining. John Roberson then pegged the final score with a pair of charity shots.
Roberson was Ahly’s leading scorer with 26 points while Ahmed Moheib scored 15 and Ehab Amin 13.
Stevens finished with 22 and Ahmed Aldurazi 15 as Ahli’s top marksmen.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))