BAHRAIN’S Manama and Muharraq have both reinforced their rosters for their upcoming participation in the 38th Gulf Clubs Basketball Championship, which is scheduled to tip off tomorrow in Muscat.
The competition also acts as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup GBA Qualifiers. It involves seven teams from across the Gulf, with the champions claiming the lone slot available for this September’s Champions Cup.
Manama, Bahrain’s five-time defending league champions, have bolstered their roster with the addition of seven-foot, two-inch NBA veteran Loren Woods, who had just played against them with Al Ahli in the national championship series that concluded last week.
Woods is a towering presence and will contribute mightily to Manama’s rebounding and rim protection.
Also joining the boys in blue is six-foot, one-inch American guard Terrell Stoglin, who is a prolific scorer. He plays the shooting guard position, adding to an already potent Manama attack from the perimeter.
Big man Wayne Chism, who helped Manama win an unprecedented treble this past campaign by claiming the Super Cup, Khalifa bin Salman Cup and the league championship, was originally tapped to join Manama for the Gulf competition but will have to sit it out due to a hand injury.
Woods and Stoglin boost an all-Bahraini Manama cast that mirrors that of Bahrain’s senior men’s national team roster, with the likes of Ahmed Abdulaziz, Mohammed Kuwayed, Maytham Jameel, Hassan Nowrooz, Mohammed Ameer, Ahmed Najaf and skipper Mohammed Hussain, to name a few.
Meanwhile, for Muharraq, they have called on the services of Sudanese-born Australian-Lebanese big man Ater Majok and American guard Demarius Bolds to help them in their quest for qualification.
Majok is a six-foot, 10-inch power player that was a second round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, although he never played in the NBA. He will be the main enforcer for Muharraq, who are certainly in need of some interior muscle.
Six-foot, four-inch Bolds is a solid two-way player who will surely benefit the team and play various positions.
Muharraq have a strong cast of local talent, who were right there in contention for a local trophy this season but just came up short. Their top Bahraini talents include Ali Abbas, Bader Abdulla Malabes, Ali Shukrallah, Mohammed Buallay, Sayed Hashim, Mohammed Juma’a and the ageless veteran Ahmed Mutawa, to name a few.
Both Manama and Muharraq arrived in the Omani capital yesterday and each had a practice session at the tournament venue.
Manama are in group ‘B’ for the first round of the competition. They have been drawn alongside Nizwa of Oman, Al Rayyan of Qatar and Sharjah of the UAE. In group ‘A’, Muharraq are joined by Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia and Al Arabi of Qatar.
Muharraq open their tournament bid tomorrow against Ittihad while Manama are first in action on Monday against Sharjah.
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