DEFENDING champions Manama capped a remarkable 2022-23 season by completing a historic treble last night as they demolished Muharraq 101-83 at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in game three of the best-of-five final series to clinch the Zain Basketball League title - their third trophy win in just three weeks after they won the Khalifa bin Salman Cup late last month and the inaugural FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) just last week. This was a record 22nd title win - the most by any team - for Manama, who completed the coveted league-and-cup double to go with their FIBA WASL trophy. Coming into the third game, Manama led 2-0 after having beaten Muharraq, 93-85 and 104-100, in the first two games and quickly sped to a 24-16 lead at the end of the first quarter before heading to the change room at half-time with the scoreboard showing them leading 50-42. Muharraq, for whom it was the fourth defeat in as many matches against Manama (who beat them in the Khalifa bin Salman Cup final also), looked completely out of sorts against their opponents, who were brimming with confidence after their historic FIBA WASL triumph last Saturday. Five minutes into the third quarter, Manama had increased their lead to 14 points, at 65-51, and, although Muharraq showed some fighting spirit to reduce it to 11 points, at 73-62, by the time the fourth quarter began, it was apparent to everyone present in the 4,000-seat arena that the defending champions were poised to run away with the game. 'Manama Hoo Ha!' shouted the eventual champions' fans, who had drenched half the arena in a sea of blue. The chant is a frequent one at all Manama games and is their way of urging the team on. 'Manama Hoo Ha!' replied the Muharraq supporters, who had created an ocean of white and red in the other half. Their retort, using the same phrase uttered by the Manama fans, is supposed to mock their opponents. But, again, as in the previous three games between the two teams, the joke was on Muharraq as Manama's overseas star Travin Thibodeaux (203-F-1996, college: New Orleans) (with a three-pointer and a two-point layup) and local hero Husain Ali (with a two-pointer) had put their team 18 points ahead, at 80-62, with seven minutes to go in the match. Soon, with five minutes left till the final buzzer, Manama were leading 86-66 and scores of Muharraq supporters decided they had seen enough and started filing out of the hall. Meanwhile, the Manama fans were threatening to bring the roof down with their screaming and cheering as the minutes ticked by and their victory looked even more assured. With about two-and-a-half minutes left, Manama's lead had risen to 24 after a Hassan Nowrooz three-point jump shot showed the scoreboard reading 97-73 in the defending champions' favour. Although, just seconds later, Muharraq's Bader Abdulla (G) replied with a three-point jump shot of his own to make it 97-76, Manama knew they were in an unbeatable position. So did the few diehard Muharraq supporters who had decided to stay until the bitter end but even they did not really applaud when, with about a minute and 40 seconds left, Baqer Isa reduced the deficit to 19 with a two-point layup. They perked up a bit 30 seconds later when Isa scored a three-point jump shot to make it 97-81 and clapped with a little more gusto but quietened down again when, less than 10 seconds later, Manama's Ammar Mohammed made a two-point layup with the scoreboard now reading 99-81. With exactly 60 seconds left till full-time, Muharraq's Abdulla Rabeea scored the final points for his team with a two-point layup but the dozen or so of his team's fans still in the hall didn't even bother to clap. Meanwhile, Manama coach Pantelis Gavriel had decided to give the players on his bench some game time and substituted out Thibodeaux, Sir'Dominic Pointer (198-G/F-1992, college: St.John's),, Mohammed Ameer and Mustafa Husain - four of the players who have played key roles in their team's dominance this season - and the quartet linked arms courtside and danced and sang along with their fans as the seconds ticked down to the end of the match. Fittingly, the electric Ahmed Aldurazi - who, along with Mustafa Husain's brother, Ali, has also been instrumental in leading Manama to their three trophies this season - scored the final points for his team to make it 101-83 with about 25 seconds left and the Muharraq players decided it was now time for them to throw in the towel. Off court, the Manama supporters had worked themselves into a frenzy of drum-beating, singing, clapping and dancing and the celebrations continued long after the team had accepted their prize and posed for photographs with it as well as the Khalifa bin Salman Cup and FIBA WASL trophies.
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Sir'Dominic Pointer (198-G/F-1992, college: St.John's) and Hussain Ali (1993) combined to score 12 points between them in the last five minutes to propel Manama to a come-from-behind, 75-72, win over Muharraq in a pulsating final at the Khalifa Sports City Arena to clinch the 2022-23 Khalifa bin Salman Cup last night. Muharraq held the edge when the match entered its final five minutes as they led 65-63. Just seconds later, a three-point jump shot by Hussain Salman pushed their lead to five points with the scoreboard reading 68-63. Half a minute later, a two-point jump shot by Sir'Dominic Pointer brought the deficit down to three for Manama at 65-68 and, after another 60 seconds, Sir'Dominic Pointer netted a three-point jump shot to level the score at 68-68 and send the Manama fans - who had packed the arena to capacity with their Muharraq counterparts three hours before the start of the game - into a joyous frenzy. With barely three-and-a-half minutes left, it was anybody's game and both team's supporters - the Muharraq fans in a sea of white in half the stadium with the Manama contingent creating an ocean of blue in the other half - threatened to bring the roof down with their cheering and clapping. Soon, DaJuan Summers (203-PF-1988, college: Georgetown, agency: Interperformances) put Muharraq ahead again with a two-point jump shot to make it 70-68 and, as the seconds ticked past, the cheering and singing from their fans became louder. But, after a series of missed opportunities by both sides, it was the Manama fans' turn to roar loudly as Hussain sank a lovely, three-point jump shot to put his team ahead, 71-70, with just under two minutes left. Thirty seconds later, the Muharraq contingent cheered loudly twice in quick succession as Dewayne Jackson calmly deposited two free throws with the 2016-17 champions now leading 72-71 and slightly more than a minute left till the final buzzer. Then, after another sequence of missed chances by both teams, Sir'Dominic Pointer made a two-point driving layup and suddenly Manama had a real chance of winning the game with just 39 seconds left as they led 73-72. Muharraq had a chance of going ahead barely a quarter of a minute later but Summers missed a two-point jump shot with about 20 seconds to go and the fans in white sensed that the game might be up as heads began to drop in the stands. And, when, with 12 seconds to go, Manama were awarded two free throws because of a personal foul on Hussain which he then coolly deposited into the hoop, the 2017-18 champions led 75-72 and their fans had already begun to celebrate. There was still time enough, however, for Muharraq to make one last, desperate attempt to try and draw level and push the game into a five-minute playoff and, for a few seconds, it looked like they might just pull it off as their players made a mad scramble around the Manama area. But a back throw by Hussain Salman to Summers was too high and just eluded the tall player's grasp and as he ran after the ball, the buzzer sounded, sending the Manama players into group celebratory hugs and their fans into paroxysms of joy. Earlier, Manama had dominated proceedings, leading 22-17 at the end of the first quarter and 42-33 at half-time. But Muharraq roared back into the contest in the third quarter, leading 57-55 when it ended and, for the first half of the last quarter, looked like they were going to run away with the game until the stunning Sir'Dominic Pointer- and Hussain-led turnaround.
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Davon Jefferson (203-F-1986, college: USC) starred for Al Ahli as his team comfortably beat Manama 85-70 to lift the Super Cup at the Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam last night. The Super Cup is an annual fixture, played between the Zain Bahrain Basketball League champions and the winners of the Khalifa Bin Salman Cup. Manama won the league last season while Al Ahli clinched the season-ending Khalifa Bin Salman Cup. 6'8' power-forward Jefferson, an American globe-trotting player who was recruited by Al Ahli at the start of the season and is playing his first season of Bahraini domestic basketball, scored 35 points, the highest by any player in the match, and was easily the most impressive player on display. Al Ahli were always in control of the game, after they took the lead halfway through the first quarter and never relinquished it. By the time the fourth and last quarter began, they were leading 72-59 and Manama, spearheaded by their American NBA star Jordan Crawford (193-G-1988, college: Xavier) - also playing in Bahrain for the first time - needed to produce something special in order to win. Mohammed Ameer (PF-1995) scored a two-pointer as soon as the quarter began to reduce the deficit to 11. But Ali Aqeel and Al Ahli captain Mohammed Qurban scored a two-pointer and a three-pointer, respectively, and, before long, Al Ahli's lead had stretched to 18 points, at 79-61, with just six minutes left to play. The athletic Ali Husain, then, scored a two-pointer to take Manama a little closer with the score reading 63-79 but Al Ahli's Hesham Sarhan (180-G-1992) - who also had an excellent game, scoring 18 points - netted a two-pointer of his own immediately thereafter and his side were 18 ahead again, at 81-63 with less than five minutes left in the match. Mohammed Ameer and Ahmed Hassan scored a two-pointer and three-pointer, respectively, in quick succession to take the score to 70-81 and raise Manama's hopes briefly. But there were only two minutes left in the game by this time and when Jefferson and Subah Husain scored a two-pointer each to leave the scoreboard reading 85-70 with barely 20 seconds left, the Manama players, led by new captain Hassan Nowrooz, demonstrated great sportsmanship by going up to their opponents and congratulating them. Earlier, the initial few minutes of the first quarter appeared to indicate that the game would be a closely-fought one, with the score reading 7-7 and five minutes to go in the quarter. But Al Ahli, spurred on by Jefferson and the excellent Maitham Jameel, who also captains the national side, eventually ended the quarter leading 23-19. Manama fought gamely to stay in the contest in the second quarter. But, Al Ahli's lead continued to increase, courtesy of Jefferson scoring consistently, and the two teams headed into the change rooms at half-time, with Manama trailing by eight points, with the score 34-42. If the league champions had any hopes of making a strong comeback in the third quarter, they were soon dashed as Al Ahli continued to extend their lead. When the quarter ended, Manama knew overhauling a 13-point deficit in the last quarter would be a difficult task. With Al Ahli in the kind of form they were displaying, it turned out to be an impossible one for Manama. Meanwhile, in a gesture of respect, the game was dedicated to the memory of the late Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, one of the Bahrain Basketball Association's past presidents.
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