BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN signed off from the 44th Williams Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei yesterday with a 68-92 loss to defending champions Strong Group Athletics from the Philippines.
The Bahrainis were playing without three of their key players, including JaKarr Sampson, Wayne Chism, and Ali Jaber, and only fielded star guard Mustafa Hussain for less than a minute in the contest.
They battled hard early and a Mohammed Ameer basket gave them a slim 18-17 advantage with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter. But the Filipinos replied immediately and closed the period strong to take a 30-23 lead into the second.
There, the nationals continued to trail and were down 43-54 at the half. After the re-start they tried valiantly to chip away at the deficit, but Strong Group Athletics stayed in control 75-64. They finally pulled away in the final frame, outscoring the Bahrainis 17-4 and going up by as many as 25 points en route to closing out the win.
Subah Hussain had 14 points to pace Bahrain in defeat while Abdulqader Thani added 12 and both Ameer and Ahmed Salman scored 10 apiece in the loss.
Andre Roberson led Strong Group Athletics with 25, while Tajuan Agee chipped in with 19.
With the result, the Bahrainis wrapped up their participation with a 6-2 win-loss record, while the Philippines representatives secured back-to-back titles in the event.
Bahrain’s six victories came against the development teams of Japan and Chinese Taipei, the senior men’s national teams of Malaysia and the UAE, Australia United, and the Qatar B team. Their other loss was against Chinese Taipei’s senior men’s squad.
The national team’s other players in the event were Mohammed Buallay, Ahmed Bindayneh, Mahmood Abbas, and Ali Hussain. They were coached by Georgios Vovoras, who was in charge from the sidelines for the first time for Bahrain.
The kingdom’s representatives competed in the William Jones Cup for only the second time in its history, following their debut over four decades ago in the 1978 edition.
In yesterday’s other results, Malaysia defeated Australia United 91-85, Chinese Taipei’s development team edged past their Japanese counterparts 76-74, and Chinese Taipei beat Qatar’s B side 82-63.
Today is the final day of the tournament.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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