SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021 12 Malabes leads past Club Winners go on decisive run to end third quarter, claim hard-earned result in Zain Bahrain Basketball League

the opening two periods of yes- Standings Muharraq claim terday’s contest, with Bahrain • Club up 16-15 after the first and P W L Pts 10th win in 11 games to staying ahead 36-35 at the in- Muharra 11 10 1 21 end league preliminary terval. It remained close until 9 9 0 18 round campaign the latter half of the third, but Al Ahli 10 8 2 18 then Muharraq went on their Al Najma 10 7 3 17 Ettihad score last game-changing rally. Al Hala 10 6 4 16 • Malabes’s 25-point output in- Nuwaidrat 11 5 6 16 nine points of the game cluded six three-pointers as he Riffa 10 5 5 15 in narrow win over came off the bench to provide Samaheej 11 4 7 15 a spark. Serbian professional Ettihad 11 4 7 15 TDT | Manama Aleksandar Mitrovic added 17 Bahrain Club 11 2 9 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Sitra 11 2 9 13 winners, while Mohammed 11 1 10 12 ader Abdulla Malabes Kuwayed had 12 and Hussain helped lift Muharraq to an Shaker 10. eke out the win. had 25. B87-77 victory over Bahrain For Bahrain Club, Bos - American Marcel Jones made The result earned Ettihad Club last night in the 2020/2021 nian-Serbian import Dragan the go-ahead basket for Ettihad their fourth win in 11 contests as Zain Bahrain Basketball League. Tubak was the game’s top scorer with 33 seconds to go on a driv- they end this stage of the league. Malabes finished with a team- with 30. He also had 17 boards ing lay-up for a 97-96 edge. After Sitra complete their campaign high 25 points, 10 of which came and four blocks, but it wasn’t a Sitra turnover on the other with their ninth loss in 11 games. in a decisive 15-6 run to end the enough to lead his team to the end, Jones then made one of two League action continues third quarter, which turned a win. Skipper Khalid Ali chipped free-throws to stretch their led tonight with two games on slim 47-46 lead to a 62-52 advan- in with 16, while Abbas Jawadi to two. Sitra had one last chance schedule. At 5.30pm, Riffa face tage heading into the final frame. had 13. to tie the game with 3.6 seconds off with Al Hala followed at Muharraq did well to hold on Meanwhile, Al Ettihad edged remaining from the foul line, but 7.45pm by Manama taking on Al from there, all the way to the past Sitra 98-96 after coming up Qassim Dawood Salman missed Najma. final whistle, as they claimed with the big plays in the closing both charity shots. Tonight’s clashes are crucial their 10th victory in 11 games stages of last night’s other game. Jones finished with 32 points for both Hala and Najma, who to end their preliminary round Sitra came alive in the second and 22 rebounds for Ettihad, are both vying for the fourth and campaign and get ready for the half and had the lead for most of who also got 22 from Hassan Fa- final spot in the Golden Square Golden Square semi-finals. Bah- the final 20 minutes. They were had and 21 from Hassan Albosta. semi-finals. Muharraq, Manama rain Club suffered their ninth up 96-89 with just two minutes For Sitra, Diallo Aboubaker had and defending champions Al loss to go with just two wins. Muharraq’s Mohammed Buallay looks to make a play as he is defended by to go, but Ettihad scored the fi- 35 to go with 20 rebounds and Ahli are already assured of their It was evenly matched over Bahrain Club’s Khalid Ali nal nine points of the game to five assists, while Husain Safar semis berths.

Milan bounce back Riffa battle past Busaiteen against Bologna to Nasser, Najma win TDT | Manama move five-points clear in volleyball league iffa claimed a a hard-earned R2-1 victory over Busaiteen last night while Manama won 2-0 against Al Najma during the eighth week of action in the 2020/2021 Nasser bin Ham- ad Bahrain Premier Footba