BASKETBALL – Bahrain’s Manama were officially eliminated last night from the 38th Arab Basketball Championship for Men’s Clubs, currently being played in Beirut, Lebanon.
The kingdom’s representatives suffered a heavy 71-114 loss to Lebanese outfit Club Centrale Al Markaziyyah Jounieh in their concluding Group A assignment at Antoine Choueiri Ghazir Arena.
After Manama led for a brief period in the second quarter, Centrale dominated the rest of the way, building a double-digit lead at half-time and never looking back.
Their final winning margin of 43 points was also their biggest gap of the contest.
Manama therefore ended their tournament campaign with just one win in five games.
They were undermanned in the competition after losing two of their key veterans just days prior to tip-off due to injury, namely Ali Jaber and Mohammed Buallay.
Their lone victory came against Seeb from Oman in their penultimate fixture, while they had earlier lost to Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo from Syria, Al Rayyan of Qatar, and Segasse of Lebanon.
Group B is composed of Al Arabi of Qatar, Al Sulaibikhat of Kuwait, Shaab Hadramaut from Yemen, Homs Al Fidaa of Syria, and home sides Beirut and Hoops.
At the end of a single round-robin, the top four teams from each six-team division move on to the elite eight.
In yesterday’s affair, court general Ahmed Salman led Manama’s scorers with 22 points, including an impressive five makes from beyond the arc.
Isaiah Kelly and Mohammed Qambar contributed 11 points apiece, with Kelly also taking down 13 rebounds.
Brandone Francis was held to just 10 markers in three-for-14 shooting as their last player in double figures.
Desmond Washington had a team-high 19 points to pace Centrale, who had six players score 12 points or more.
Matthew Khoury added 17, while Reigarvius Williams and skipper Jihad El Khatib scored 16 apiece.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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