Saudi Arabia seal stunning OT win

Saudi Arabia pulled off a stunning, come-from-behind 81-79 overtime victory against Qatar last night in the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Championship for National Teams 2024, currently being played in Bahrain. Marzouq Almuwallad (180-PG-1992) buried the go-ahead three-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in the extra session to help lift the Saudis to the narrow win. They trailed 78-79 with 21 seconds to go following a put-back slam dunk by Qatar’s Mohamed Abbasher in transition. But then Almuwallad came up clutch for the Saudis with his end-game heroics. He received an assist from teammate Osama Albarqawi and buried the game-winner from the right wing, off the glass. The Qataris had one last chance to tie it, but Tyler James Harris missed a turn-around baby hook shot at the buzzer. Earlier, the Saudis faced deficits as big as 14 points starting the fourth quarter but roared back in the closing minutes to force the extra session. Down five with under two minutes to play, Ayman Almuwallad fired in a triple and then teammate Mohammed Alsuwailem (211-C-1998) scored the tying basket in the paint for Saudi, forging a 70-all deadlock with 26.7 seconds left in regulation. Then, in overtime, things stayed close. Both sides traded baskets and exchanged leads on multiple occasions until the thrilling finish. The result earned the Saudis their second successive victory after also beating Kuwait in their opening game on Monday night. Qatar, on the other hand, suffered another heart-breaking loss on a single basket following their two-point defeat to hosts Bahrain in their first assignment. Both teams are back in action this evening at Khalifa Sports City Arena. The Qataris play the Kuwaitis at 5pm, followed by the Saudis facing Bahrain at 7.30pm. Tonight’s fixtures will determine the seeding for the semi-finals, where the top seeds will face the number four seeds and the third will take on the second. Those games are scheduled for Friday at the same venue. On Saturday, the gold and bronze medal contests will be held. Marzouq Almuwallad and Alsuwailem had 19 points apiece to spearhead Saudi last night, while Ayman Almuwallad added 11 as their third player in double figures. Team captain Mohammed Almarwani added nine points and Mathna Almarwani finished with eight. Babacar Dieng (196-F-1997) paced Qatar with 20 points, while Mike Lewis II (186-G-1998, college: Duquesne) had 15 and Harris 12. Moustafa Fouda contributed 10 points in the loss. The Qataris led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter and then extended their advantage to 38-30 at the half. A Fouda triple to beat the third-quarter buzzer gave them their biggest lead of the game at 61-47, but that set the stage for Saudi’s impressive comeback.
Courtesy of: gdnonline.com