BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S Manama had a late comeback come up short after falling behind by as many as 26 points in a tough 73-79 defeat against Antonin Sportif of Lebanon last night in the 37th Arab Basketball Championship for Men’s Clubs, which got underway in Dubai, the UAE.
The Bahrainis had a dismal second quarter where they were held to single digits for nearly the entire period, which turned a 15-20 deficit to a 21-point hole, 26-47, at the break.
But they battled back in the third and were able to stay within striking distance heading into the final frame, where they reduced the gap to just five points after American import Daniel Hamilton buried a three-pointer to make it 73-78 with less than a minute remaining. That was as close as they would get, however, as Hamilton turned the ball over with an errant pass on their next possession, and the Lebanese sealed the win from there.
Hamilton scored 23 points and had nine rebounds to pace Manama in defeat, while Ahmed Salman chipped in with 18 and eight boards. Ali Jaber scored 10 as the Bahrainis’ bench was held to just seven points the entire game.
Mark Alkhoury had 20 to lead Antonin Sportif, while Torren Jones and Ricky Ledo chipped in with 15 apiece.
Manama are the lone squad from the kingdom taking part in the 16-team event. They will be looking to bounce back when they take on Al Ahli Tripoli tomorrow at 1pm. They then complete their preliminary round campaign against Kuwait SC from Kuwait on Monday next week at 3pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Based on the results of this ongoing opening phase, which features four groups in all, eight match-ups will be determined in an ensuing knockout phase on October 1 and 2, which will involve all 16 clubs. That will set the stage for the quarter-finals on October 4, followed by the semi-finals the next day and then the gold and bronze medal games on October 6, the competition’s concluding day.
All games are being played at Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Indoor Hall.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))