BAHRAIN clubs Manama and Al Ahli had contrasting starts last night to their respective campaigns in the Fiba Asia Champions Cup 2019 Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Qualifiers, being held in the kingdom.
Manama enjoyed a resounding 85-72 victory over Al Seeb of Oman in their opening Group ‘B’ clash of the preliminary round, while Ahli fell to Al Arabi of Qatar 64-70 in a tightly contested Group ‘A’ affair.
Also yesterday, Sharjah of the UAE made easy work of Ohod from Saudi Arabia 94-75 in another Group ‘A’ clash.
In Manama’s triumph, an 18-2 run sparked by Polish professional Maciej Lampe helped the tournament hosts turn a 60-62 deficit to a 78-64 advantage over the first six minutes of the final quarter. Seeb never recovered, and Manama cruised the rest of the way.
Lampe and American Terrico White combined for 50 of Manama’s output, with Lampe scoring 26, including three three-pointers. He also took down 14 rebounds and dished out seven assists, while posting four blocks and zero turnovers.
Bahraini guard Hassan Nowrooz came off the bench to chip in 14 points for Manama including four triples.
American Louis Munks paced Seeb in the loss with 31 points and nine rebounds. Serbian giant Mile Ilic added 18 markers and 11 boards for Seeb.
In Ahli’s defeat, the Bahrainis started strong and took a 10-2 lead coming out of the gate. But Arabi took away control and ended the quarter with a 21-4 run.
Ahli fought back and briefly took the lead, 49-46, in the third period following back-to-back triples by American import Wayne Chism.
Advantage
Then, late in the fourth, after Arabi regained the advantage, guard Ali Melad buried a three-pointer to bring the Bahrainis back to within one, 64-65, with less than a minute to go in the game. But Arabi’s Kevin Galloway replied with a three-point play to regain their four-point edge, and Ahli never got any closer.
Marcel Jones had 25 points and 13 rebounds for Ahli in the loss while Chism added 16 and 16 boards to go with an impressive six blocks. Melad came off the bench to contribute 15, including three three-pointers.
Galloway had 18 markers to lead four Arabi players in double-figures.
In Sharjah’s big win, after leading 36-33 at the half, the Emiratis turned things up in the final two quarters where they outscored their rivals each time.
Tyler Wilkerson finished as their top scorer with 28 points. He also had 17 rebounds. All five of their starters were in double figures.
Shane Rector was the top performer for Ohod with 32 minutes and 13 rebounds.
Action continues today in the group stage with another three games on the cards. At 3pm, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai of Dubai take on Al Shamal of Qatar. It will be followed at 5pm by Arabi facing Sharjah, while at 7pm Bahrain’s Ahli will look to bounce back when they go head to head with Ohod.
The round-robin continues until Tuesday, after which the knockout stages will take place. All eight teams will feature in the quarter-final stage, with cross-over match-up depending on the seeding.
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