BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN got off to a winning start last night in the boys’ 3x3 basketball tournament of the third Asian Youth Games in the kingdom.
The quartet of Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, Hassan Abdulkadir, Yousif Yaqoob Meshael, and Sergej Scekic triumphed in both their Pool B games yesterday in their competition’s preliminary round.
The nationals opened their medal bid at the Bahrain Basketball Association Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex with a hard-earned 21-15 triumph against Indonesia, and then powered past Kyrgyzstan 21-5 to wrap up their successful first day.
Against Indonesia, the Bahrainis took a commanding 9-2 lead early on following an emphatic put-back slam dunk by Onoduenyi. But their opponents gradually clawed their way back, and thanks to their hot shooting from the perimeter – coupled with a number of misses from the free-throw line by Scekic – got to within 10-11 on two charities by Carlen Al Fayes.
Bahrain maintained their advantage but Al Fayes then gave them a scare when he tied it at 14-all with a corner two-pointer, and then it yet again at 15-apiece from the charity stripe.
But Scekic calmed any Bahraini nerves, scoring with a driving lay-up to give them back the lead – sparking a decisive 6-0 run to reach their 21-point target and end the game.
The Bahrainis made the most of their size advantage throughout that rally, and they forced the Indonesians into multiple rushed outside shots.
Onoduenyi and Abdulkadir spearheaded the home team with seven points apiece, while Scekic, who shot two-for-seven from the free-throw line, added five. Meshael contributed two points in their win. Al Fayes had a game-high 10 points in the losing effort, while Seiya Yabe added four for Indonesia.
In their next assignment against Kyrgyzstan, Bahrain were dominant. A Scekic two-pointer broke a 2-2 deadlock and sparked a 7-0 run, putting the nationals firmly in control. Scekic scored again to give the Bahrainis a commanding double-digit advantage at 13-3, and they never looked back from there. Scekic later supplied the winning basket from beyond the arc to finish the game with six points.
Abdulkadir had 10 as their top scorer, while Onoduenyi finished with three and Meshael had two. Eldar Erikov scored three to pace Kyrgyzstan.
The Bahrainis are back in action tomorrow against China to complete their preliminary round campaign in Pool B.
Pool A in the boys’ 3x3 tournament features Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, Jordan, and the UAE. Pool C is composed of Qatar, Thailand, Uzbekistan, the Maldives, Palestine, and Cambodia; while Pool D comprises Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Yemen, and Bangladesh.
Games in the preliminaries will be played from until tomorrow. Following this single round-robin, the top two teams from each pool move on to the knockouts, which will be held on Monday. The semis and final will take place the same day.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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