BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa suffered an early exit last night from the Lausanne Masters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The event is part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour – the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).
The kingdom’s squad were eliminated from further title contention following a narrow 15-21 loss against Miami from the US and then a 20-21 heartbreaker against Valencia of Spain.
Riffa competed in yesterday’s first of two days of action with a quartet of Dennis Donkor, Vic van Oosterwyck, Andrej Cuyvers, and Bahraini Mohammed Kowayed, who was a last-minute replacement for Jonas Foerts. Both Miami and Valencia made it through to today’s quarter-finals as the top two teams from Pool C.
In their game against Miami, Riffa had a hot start and took an 8-4 lead after a van Oosterwyck and-one. But the Americans roared back, and behind the strong play of James Parrott, went on a 7-2 run to break a 10-all deadlock and take full control of the contest.
Riffa never recovered and two free-throws by Dylan Travis earned Miami the 21-point target with just seconds left on the clock.
Van Oosterwyck led Riffa with six points in the loss while Donkor had five, Cuyvers three and Kowayed one. Travis paced Miami with seven points while Mitch Hahn had six.
In their next fixture against Valencia, the Bahraini squad fell behind 10-12, and later the Spaniards moved to the brink of the victory at 20-17. But Dennis Donkor gave Riffa some hope with a two-pointer plus the foul, earning him a pair of charity shots. Two makes would have earned them the win, but Donkor split his free-throws to tie it at 20-apiece. Valencia made them pay on the very next possession, as Ivan Aurrecoechea made the clinching lay-up on a textbook pick-and-roll.
Donkor had 11 points to spearhead Riffa in the game while Cuyvers had six and Kowayed three. Javier Herrero led Valencia with 11 while Juanma Robles contributed six points.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))