MANAMA (Bahrain) - Al Ahli Club moved on the cusp of reaching the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League Semi-Finals after frustrating Manama, 65-56, Monday.
Before a raucous crowd that filled the BBA Arena, the Eagles dictated the pace early and built a big lead during the fourth quarter, but still needed to ward off their foes' furious comeback en route to taking Game 1 of the Qualification to Semi-Finals.
Now ahead in the best-of-3 series, the crew has the opportunity to finish off the league's inaugural champions in Game 2 next Monday, February 10.
Game heroes: Ahmed Alderazi led Al Ahli with 22 points on a 4-of-9 clip from three, together with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and a pair of steals in 35 minutes.
Elijah Thomas delivered 12 points and 12 rebounds as he and Alderazi proved to be the stabilizing presence their team needed in the endgame to hack out the victory.
Maitham Isa also scored 12 alongside 8 rebounds while Dominique Sutton - who's returning to the club after a couple of stints a few years ago - added 10 and 10.
Turning point: The quartet played key roles in Al Ahli's third-quarter barrage as they took advantage of a deflated Manama side that lost head coach Linos Gavriel.
The team would go on to lead by as many as 16 points, 58-42, early in the final period, until Tony Carr and Co. rallied back and chopped the gap to just four, 60-56, following AJ John's cleanup of Ahmed Haji's miss with 3:40 remaining.
But then, Al Ahli refused to go down, with Alderazi hitting a booming trifecta with 2:48 on the clock to widen the spread to seven points, 63-56.
And serving as the dagger that dashed Manama's hopes was the two-handed slam of Thomas - off a touchdown pass by Alderazi as well - with 2:29 left.
Stats don't lie: The result marked the second time in a span of five days that Al Ahli have beaten Manama. They pulled away late toward the 84-76 win in their Bahraini Premier League encounter last January 28.
They said: "When I see my players fighting crazy like that, it feels better. Everything is good. But it's just one game. It's just one win. In this kind of series, the most important thing is [maintaining] this motivation, the mentality, and this is what we need. This is what we are trying to do." - Andac Yapicier, Head Coach, Al Ahli Club
FIBA