Darius Rice Leads Team With 29 Points

MANAMA were yesterday back on track in their bid to retain the Zain Bahrain Basketball Championship with a hard-fought 84-78 victory over Al Ahli at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.

In an action-packed second-week tie, Manama made amends for their disappointing start to the competition last week when they suffered a 84-89 defeat to Sitra to bounce back and revive their title chances.

American professional Darius Rice was the star of the night for Manama, scoring 29 points, guiding his side for their maiden win in the six-team tournament.

Coached by Argentina's Ricardo Daniel, Manama were also inspired by some of Bahrain's best basketball players, including skipper Mahmood Ghuloom, Mohammed Hassan, Ahmed Abdulaziz, Mohammed Hussain, Ahmed Al Mutawa, Isa Ebrahim, Jassim Mohammed and Omran Abdulreda.

Al Ahli, on the other hand, were banking on their American import Johnny Antony who was the team's top scorer with 29 points.

Playmaker Hussain Shaker, along with Maytham Jameel, Sayed Hashim Habib, Hisham Sarhan, Mohammed Qurban and Mahdi Ashoor also spearheaded Al Ahli in yesterday's thriller.

The result saw both clubs tied with three points each from two matches in the six-team tournament, with three matches remaining to mark the end of the first half of this double round robin stage.


(gulf-daily-news.com)