BASKETBALL – Khalifa Khalil buried a go-ahead three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to lift the UAE to a stunning 81-79 victory over hosts Bahrain last night in the 26th Arab Men’s Basketball Championship, currently being played at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.
Khalil’s game-winner came after JaKarr Sampson put the Bahrainis ahead 79-78 with a put-back slam dunk and just under half-a-minute remaining on the game clock.
Following a timeout, Demarco Dickerson tried to play hero with a contested, long-range triple that drew air. But teammate Mamadou Ndiaye was able to grab the ball and he immediately kicked it out to a waiting Khalil in the right corner. The southpaw coolly fired in the decisive basket for the two-point lead.
Bahrain had one last chance to tie or win the game after head coach Georgios Vovoras called his own timeout, but an Ali Jaber desperation heave at the buzzer was well off the mark.
The result earned the Emiratis their second win in as many outings to begin this seven-team Arab Basketball Confederation (ABC) tournament. The nationals, on the other hand, suffered their first loss after opening with a win against Qatar on Friday.
In attendance during last night’s contest were Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) president Alaa Mudara, and BBA and ABC officials.
In their disheartening loss, Bahrain held a slim 23-21 edge at the end of the first quarter but the UAE took control in a one-sided second, where they outscored their opponents 25-13 to take a 46-36 cushion into the break.
The Bahrainis then came alive in the third, outscoring the Emiratis by 16, 28-12, to go into the fourth up 64-58. It remained close throughout the final canto, with the two teams trading jabs all the way through to the last minute, when a Dickerson pull-up triple from way out tied it at 75-all.
It was then a one-on-one duel between Sampson and Dickerson, as the pair exchanged baskets on successive possessions. Sampson’s put-back dunk off a Mustafa Hussain missed lay-up then gave the nationals the slim 79-78 advantage, but that set the stage for Khalil’s end-game heroics.
Dickerson finished with an impressive triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists while Qais Al Shabibi also had 18 markers to spearhead the UAE. Abdulaziz Ahmed contributed 12 points and Ahmed Albreki 11, while Khalil finished with eight points off the bench.
Sampson and Hussain once again did the bulk of the scoring for Bahrain, with Sampson pouring in 29 while grabbing 10 boards and Hussain scoring 24. Mohammed Ameer had eight and Jaber seven in the loss.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to bounce back tonight when they return to the hardwood against Tunisia. Their clash is scheduled for an 8pm tip-off at the same venue. Also today, Kuwait face defending champions Egypt at 4pm, and then the UAE take on Algeria at 6pm.
Elsewhere yesterday, the Egyptians got their back-to-back title bid underway with a 90-69 rout of Qatar, while Tunisia crushed Kuwait 86-61.
In Egypt’s win, they took control early and never wavered, leading the entire contest, creating a gap as big as 27 points. Mazen Mohamed and Ahmed Yasser had 12 points apiece in their win, while three players contributed 10 each, including Ebrahim Amin, Mohamed Ashraf, and skipper Ahmed Moheb. Abdulla Moosa was Qatar’s top scorer with 19.
In Tunisia’s triumph, they led by as many as 29 points en route to their big win. Jawhar Jawadi had 21 points as their leading scorer while Yacine Toumi had 15 and Oussama Mamaoui finished with 14. For the Kuwaitis, Abdulrahman Al Shammari scored 17 while Mohamed Adnan Hasan finished with 10 in the loss.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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