FIBA Basketball

    Al Manama add to Al Nasr Riyadh's woes with 31-point subduing

    MANAMA (Bahrain) - Al Manama won their second straight following a 31-point conquest of Al Nasr Riyadh -- easily their most convincing win to date in WASL-Gulf.

    MANAMA (Bahrain) - Al Manama handed Al Nasr Riyadh a brutal 105-74 beatdown for their first win streak in WASL-Gulf, Monday night at the BBA Arena.

    The Bahraini side erupted for 30 big points in the second quarter and a one-sided affair ensued afterwards, not allowing a close encounter to take place like in the first meeting last December 20 en route to posting their largest win to date.

    Coming in with sky-high high morale following their gutsy 99-94 victory over Al Sadd, Al Manama  have now won their second in a row to improve to 3-1 in Group B while keeping keeping the club from Saudi Arabia winless in four games.

    Game heroes: Six players scored in double figures in the win. with Charles Garcia leading the way with 18 points on top of 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block.

    Lamonte Ulmer registered his second straight double-double outing with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Hasan Mohamed supplied 13 points and 4 assists.

    Mustafa Rashed had 12 points, all of which he scored in the second canto. Elijah Robinson had 12 points as well, alongside 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals.

    Ahmed Haji chipped in 10 markers off the bench as all 12 players of Coach Alen Abaz scored at least 2 points in the win.

    STEP AHEAD Player of the Game: Garcia earned STEP AHEAD Player of the Game fan voting as he earned 54-percent in the online polls.

    Turning point: Ali Rashed drained a three-pointer off a Haji assist, and the latter would follow it up with a perfect trip to the charity stripe for five unanswered points to give Al Manama a 24-19 lead to end the first quarter.

    That mini-run would prove to be enough to shift the momentum to their side as the home team would put on a fiery second-quarter showing to start the rout.

    Stats don't lie: Al Manama's 31-point tied the second-largest winning margin in WASL-Gulf, first accomplished by Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai in their 92-61 win over Al Bashaer in Group A last January 17 in Dubai.

    Furthermore, Al Manama shot a blistering 54-percent from the field, mainly behind the 24 assists they dished out. They owned the boards as well, 48-28.

    They said: "We played very mature. We executed very well. Couple of fouls I started off, so I just have to keep my head and I just played my game. Coach said, 'Calm down,' which I did, and the results played very well." - Charles Garcia, Al Manama

    "We still have a chance. We lost four games, but Al Sadd only won one. If we beat Al Sadd next game more than one point and they lost, we [can] qualify." - Turki Almuhanna, Al Nasr Riyadh

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