BASKETBALL – Bahrain maintained their unbeaten record last night in the Fiba U16 Asia Cup Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Qualifiers 2025, currently being hosted by the kingdom.
The youth national team outplayed their counterparts from Saudi Arabia 82-62 at the Bahrain Basketball Association Arena in Umm Al Hassam.
The Bahrainis led virtually the entire contest and then stretched their advantage in the final quarter for the final 20-point winning margin.
The result was the third straight victory for the home side as they moved one triumph away from securing the under-16 GBA title and punching their tickets to this year’s Fiba Asia U16 Championship, to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, this September.
Following a rest day today, the nationals have one last fixture tomorrow against the UAE, who had a bye yesterday but have lost their two games thus far. Also tomorrow, Saudi will be looking to bounce back when they take on Oman, who suffered a 55-64 defeat to Kuwait in last night’s other contest.
The final day of the championship will be on Saturday, when Kuwait play Saudi and Oman take on the UAE.
In Bahrain’s win against Saudi, a 6-0 run to end the first quarter gave them a 26-21 lead, and they never looked back. They built a double-digit advantage at 44-34 at the half, and despite Saudi cutting into the deficit in the third, closed the game strong, outscoring the visitors 23-11 in the fourth for yet another big win.
Mohamed Adel Abdulla had 19 points to lead the Bahrainis while Hassan Oshobuge Abdulkadir had a monster effort with 18 and 22 rebounds. Ali Husain Mohammed chipped in with 16 points and six assists, while Somto Patrick Onoduenyi had 11 points, 17 boards, and six assists.
Ayman Mawadah Alshinkite had 14 to pace the Saudis, while Abdulraman Adel Elmouassarani and Mahmoud Jeddawi contributed 10 apiece.
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