MANAMA will be eyeing the coveted league-and-cup double as they take on Muharraq tonight in the first game of the 2022-23 Zain Basketball League best-of-five final series at the Khalifa Sports City Arena.
Having beaten arch-rivals Muharraq 75-72 in a thrilling 2022-23 Khalifa bin Salman Cup final last Monday at the same venue, Manama will want to grab an early advantage in the series by winning the first game.
But Muharraq, who seemed to hold the edge in the Khalifa bin Salman Cup final until the last few minutes when Sir’Dominic Pointer and Ali Hussain turned it around in stunning fashion for Manama, will be just as focused on seeking revenge on their traditional rivals and going 1-0 ahead tonight.
American pros Dewayne Jackson and Dajuan Summers will, doubtless, be expected to shoulder the burden of doing most of the scoring for Muharraq as they have all season. Even in the Cup final last Monday, Summers top-scored for his team with 27 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists, while Jackson had the next-best tally, with 25 points along with five rebounds and seven assists.
But captain Bader Abdulla, who scored 11 points to go with two rebounds and an assist in that final, has been a solid back-up for his overseas pros throughout the season, along with the impressive Hussain Salman and the sturdy Ali Shukralla.
Baqer Isa, Ali Jaffar, Mahmood Abbas Isa and the brothers Rabeea, Abdulla and Ali, have also chipped in with meaningful contributions throughout the year.
Manama have also relied heavily on their American stars with Travin Thibodeaux and Pointer doing the bulk of their scoring across all games.
Thibodeaux had a quiet game in the Cup final, scoring only eight points but he also had nine rebounds and six assists. Pointer was instrumental in Manama’s come-from-behind victory with a total of 23 points to go with seven rebounds.
And captain Hassan Nowrooz, who has led his side with panache apart from also making valuable contributions himself, will be hoping that not only are Thibodeaux and Pointer on song tonight but that his local players also perform as well as they did last week.
Mohammed Ameer, who scored 18 points along with nine rebounds and two assists in the Cup final, has been consistent all season, as has Ahmed Salman.
Namesake Ahmed Aldurazi has dazzled everyone with his lightning speed around the court while Ahmed Najaf and Mohammed Jassim have been very reliable.
And brothers Mustafa and Ali Hussain have caused havoc amongst their opponents’ ranks whenever they have stepped onto the court with their creative plays.
A full house is expected again today for the game which will begin at 7pm. Last Monday, the Cup final began at the same time but the 3,600 seat arena was filled to the brim at 4pm, three hours before the scheduled start, with a few hundred people milling around the several gates, still trying desperately to somehow get in.
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