TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain’s basketball powerhouse, Manama, began their title defense in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) 2023/2024 last night with an 84-76 victory over Kuwait’s Kazma.
The match took place at the Zain Basketball Arena in Umm Al Hassam and was the first match for both teams in the tournament’s Gulf subzone, also in Group B, Shabab Al Ahly of the UAE and Al Shamal of Qatar.
Manama used a sensational second half yesterday to open up a narrow lead and wrap up the win with eight points.
Manama made history last season by becoming the inaugural champions of the newly launched WASL competition.
Manama are joining Muharraq in the new campaign, with two Bahrain representatives.
In last night’s match, young Bahrain guard Mustafa Hussein put in a great performance and was Manama’s top scorer with 29 points.
Hussain made five 3-point shots in the game.
Bahrain led 23-17 at the end of the first quarter and held a 44-41 lead at halftime.
However, they were able to build an advantage after the interval and led 62-54 after three games.
Manama then held on to its biggest lead of the contest with 14 points in the final canto, preserving its most important victory.
Sir Dominic Pointer added 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Manama, and Travin Thibodeau had 13 points and nine boards.
Tony Farmer scored 11 points in the win. For Kazuma, Clint Chapman had 23 points and Travis Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Manama will return to the hardwood for a WASL match on December 4 when they host Shamal in their second Group B assignment.
Meanwhile, Muharraq lost their opening match against Kuwait Sporting Club in Group A of the Gulf subzone last week.
This is their first appearance in the tournament, and they are alongside Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahly Jeddah and Qatar’s Al Rayan.
Prime Minister Muharraq will return to action against Saudi Arabia’s Ahly on November 28th. This season’s competition features a similar format to the first campaign.
The top three teams at the end of the WASL Gulf Subzone League and WASL West Asia Subzone League will qualify for the Final 8.
These six teams will be joined by champion teams from South Asia and Central Asia, vying for the right to be the cage kings of the region.
Prior to the Final 8, each subzone league will be divided into two groups of four teams, with the top seed at the end of the opening phase of the round robin qualifying directly for the best-of-three semifinals.