AMERICAN pros Dewayne Jackson and Dajuan Summers led Muharraq’s charge into the final of the 2022-23 Zain Basketball League as the three-time champions overcame a battling Al Ettihad 106-93 last night in the third and final game of their best-of-three semi-final series at the Khalifa Sports City Arena.
Jackson scored 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 12 assists while Summers racked up 30 points with nine rebounds and one assist as Muharraq recovered from a sluggish first quarter, at the end of which they trailed 21-24, to run away with the game in the second half, after having led 55-52 at the break.
Both teams were tied 1-1 coming into the crucial third game and, as Al Ettihad asserted themselves in the first quarter, courtesy of their overseas pros, the American Cleanthony Early and the Ukrainian Viacheslav Kravtsov, Muharraq appeared a bit ragged in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
But they found some rhythm in the second quarter and, by the time the third quarter had been underway for five minutes, Muharraq had stretched their lead to 15 points, with the scoreboard reading 71-56.
Early, who top-scored in the match with 39 points along with nine rebounds and three assists, and Kravtsov, with 32 points as well as 19 rebounds and three assists, tried their best to keep Al Ettihad in the contest.
But Jackson and Summers were fully on song by now and, with solid support from Ali Shukralla (12 points), Hussain Salman (11 points) and captain Bader Abdulla (11 points), ensured that, with two minutes left in the third quarter, Muharraq were leading by a whopping 20 points, at 82-62.
By the time the fourth quarter began, Muharraq were leading by 19 points, at 89-70, and Al Ettihad needed to summon the energy they had displayed in the first quarter to have any hope of overcoming the deficit.
Instead, Jackson, Summers and Abdulla combined to ensure that, with five minutes left in the game, Muharraq were still leading by a seemingly insurmountable 18-point margin, at 95-77.
Early, Kravstov and captain Sayed Mohammed Hameed – who backed up Al Ettihad’s overseas pros superbly with 16 points, two rebounds and five assists – fought valiantly to try and bring their team back into the contest in the remaining time.
But, for every two- or three-pointer they scored, Muharraq replied in kind with some of their own and, as the match entered its final 30 seconds, were leading 106-93, and after an exchange of glances between their players, decided to shake hands with the Al Ettihad players to signal the end of the match.
Muharraq, who won the last of their three titles in 2018-19, will now have to wait until the conclusion of the best-of-three semi-final series between defending champions, Manama – who have won 21 titles, the most by any team – and Al Ahli, who have won 20, with their last championship win coming in 2021, to find out who they will face in the best-of-three final series.
Al Ahli currently lead 1-0 after defeating Manama, 93-86, in the first game last Thursday.
The two teams will play the second game of the series, which starts at 7pm, tonight at the Khalifa Sports City Arena.
If Manama win, the third match will be played at the same venue next Thursday.
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