Muharraq eke into Top Six!

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Muharraq and Al Ahli were both victorious last night as the Top Six line-up was completed in the 2023/2024 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

Muharraq roared back from a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to defeat Al Hala 76-73 and eke into the next stage.

Ahli, meanwhile, secured their berth following a massive 125-62 victory over Bahrain Club.

Yesterday’s games wrapped up the regular season schedule in the current league campaign.

Muharraq and Ahli joined defending champions Manama, Al Ettihad, Hala, and Al Najma as the teams marching through to the Top Six and staying in title contention.

Muharraq’s victory earned them a place along with Najma while eliminating Nuwaidrat.

All three teams ended the regular season with identical 6-4 win-loss records, but Muharraq and Najma advanced as they had superior points differentials from their 10 games.

The Top Six will be battling it out for a place in the Golden Square semi-finals.

The schedule for this phase’s games has yet to be released by the Bahrain Basketball Association.

Muharraq appeared to be on the brink of being booted out last night but they showed their heart and fought back in their game’s final stanza, when they were down 45-60.

Inspired by the hustle and scrappy defence of Ali Shukrallah—despite being a liability offensively—Muharraq stormed back to begin the fourth and went on a game-changing 13-0 run to get to within 58-60.

Buried Hala responded and both sides traded jabs, but then American professional Ra’shad James buried a three-pointer with 50 seconds to play to give Muharraq the lead for good at 75-73.

Countryman Tyler Wilkerson sank one of two free throws with 39 seconds left to ice the contest, as Hala were unable to put up an attempt to tie in the closing seconds. Wilkerson carried Muharraq for much of the night, scoring 30 points while grabbing nine rebounds.

James added 20 and none of their other players finished with more than six markers.

For Hala, Alex Young had a game-high 39 while Tyrone Nash scored 18 and took down 17 boards, but it was not enough to lift Hala, who finished the regular season with a 7-3 record.

In Ahli’s big victory, they claimed their seventh win in 10 games and went to 17 points, safely putting them in the upper half of the 11-team standings.

Bahrain Club were already out of the running for a Top Six place and finished with a 2-8 win-loss record.

Ahli burst out of the gate in their fixture while holding their opponents to just single digits in the first quarter for a commanding 33-9 lead.

They stretched that advantage to 66-21 at the half and never let up the rest of the way, leading by as many as 65 points.

American professional Unique McLean scored 26 points to spearhead Ahli, while Jamaican import Adrian Uter added 23 to go with 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Five others finished in double figures, including Ali Hussain who had 15 and Ahmed Aldurazi who chipped in with 12 points.

For Bahrain Club, who were playing with a foreign professional, Mansoor Jaber scored 23 points and Sayed Mohammed Habib had 10.