BASKETBALL – Bahrain's Al Ahli suffered a narrow 88-91 defeat to Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE last night in their Gulf sub-zone clash of the 2024-25 Fiba West Asia Super League (WASL).
The Emiratis used a game-changing 15-3 run within a four-minute span midway through the fourth quarter to take control of the contest. Saeed Alajmani then buried a three-pointer with only 14 seconds remaining to give the Emiratis a five-point lead and virtually seal their victory.
The game was played at Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall in Dubai, and it was the penultimate fixture for both teams in Group A of the WASL Gulf’s preliminary round.
Ahli are fighting to keep their bid alive for a semi-final berth in the competition. They are currently third on their division table with just one win from five games and have one final fixture to play against Al Bashaer Club of Oman, scheduled for Monday next week at home.
Bashaer, who are still winless in the tournament, lost by default against Kuwait SC of Kuwait in yesterday’s other Group A tie at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.
The Kuwaitis thus top the standings with an unbeaten record in five outings, while Shabab Al Ahli follow with four wins and one loss. Should the positions remain the same at the end of the preliminaries, Kuwait will earn an outright berth in the Gulf semi-finals, while Shabab Al Ahli and Ahli will compete in a cross-over play-off round with two other teams from Group B to claim the other berths in the last four.
In last night’s contest, Ahli held a 21-16 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the hosts narrowed the gap in the second and the Bahrainis were ahead by just a point, 39-38, at the break.
The Emiratis then came alive in the third and poured in 31 points to go ahead 69-62 going into the final frame. Ahli had a strong start to the fourth, with an Ahmed Alderazi three-pointer sparking a 7-0 run to tie the proceedings at 69-all with more than eight minutes still remaining on the game clock.
That set the stage for Shabab Al Ahli’s key rally, with a three-pointer by Hamid Albreiki acting as the catalyst. Ahli tried to stay within striking distance and back-to-back lay-ups by Jordan Alex Stevens and Elijah Reshard Thomas brought them to within a field goal, 86-88, with a little over half-a-minute to play.
But Alajmani then put the game away with his decisive triple that made it 91-86, and Stevens pegged the final score for Ahli’s three-point defeat.
Three players finished with at least 20 points for the Bahrainis in last night’s loss. Stevens had 29 while dishing out 10 assists, while Thomas added 27 and Maitham Jameel had 20. For the Emiratis, Deshawndre Washington had 32 points and nine rebounds, while Albreiki added 25 and Sir’Dominic Pointer contributed 16 to go with 13 boards.
Ahli are one of two Bahraini clubs in this year’s WASL Gulf sub-zone. National champions Manama are the other in a supremely tight Group B.
Manama are on a two-game win-streak and will be looking to maintain their fine form tonight when they face off with Al Arabi of Qatar in Doha. The game is scheduled for an 8pm tip-off, Bahrain time, at the Al Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Qatari capital.
Manama lost their previous meeting against Arabi by a single point and will be hoping to bounce back this evening. Their other loss came against Al Qadsia of Kuwait, whom they then beat in their return game, while their other triumph was against Ittihad Club of Saudi Arabia. All four squads in their pool are tied on 2-2 win-loss records.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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