Al Rayyan weather Al-Ahli Jeddah in clash of FIBA WASL newcomers

JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) - Al Rayyan made sure to begin their FIBA WASL campaign on a triumphant note as they turned back Al-Ahli Jeddah on the road, 98-88, in a matchup between Gulf League newcomers, Tuesday night at the partisan Green Basketball Court.

The visiting side from Qatar lost hold of a 15-point lead following the home team's furious rally led by Devin Ebanks, but prevented a major collapse from taking place as Mouhammad Faye and Co. restored order, eventually joining Kuwait Club (1-0) on top of the Group A standings.

Game heroes: Veteran Faye led Al Rayyan with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block each in nearly 39 minutes, finishing with a game-high efficiency rating of 32 as well.

Fifteen-year-old guard Abdullah Musa provided the unlikely spark in the victory as he came through with 18 points, spiked by three triples, alongside 4 rebounds.

Moustapaha Heron delivered 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while Mohamed Abdulaziz supplied 16 points, although he was not able to finish the game after suffering an apparent ankle injury late in the fourth quarter. Shamorie Ponds chipped in 15 points.

STEP AHEAD Player of the Game: Faye deservingly earned STEP AHEAD Player of the Game honors for his efforts in steadying the ship amidst Al-Ahli's rally.

Turning point: Behind Ebanks, the home team managed to tie the game up at 58-all with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter but couldn't seem to find the gear to get ahead. Faye would break the deadlock through free throws, which sparked an 8-0 run to give Al Rayyan the 68-60 lead.

Al-Ahli, of course, tried to come back and got to within just four, 73-69, after DeAndre Liggins' trey with 8:14 to go in the final period. But Faye killed their momentum by converting a three-point play shortly after, before Musa and Ponds joined in to make it an 81-71 lead with 6:52 left.

Stats don't lie: The three-ball proved key for Al Rayyan in the win as they sank 12 shots from the outside, five more than what their counterparts made. The team shot 53.9-percent from the floor.

They said: "My feelings are mixed. Even though we had a very good performance, we had one injury. We don't know how serious it will be but it doesn't look good for us. We have to go back home and figure out how we're gonna solve one more problem that we had to face. I would like to congratulate the team of Al-Ahli and congratulate my players for playing hard." - Stergios Koufos, Head Coach, Al Rayyan

"We knew we'd come to Jeddah to play against a very good team with good players. We worked hard all week. Everybody was ready to come and play. We played well but we still have things to work on. We have players that stepped up. In the end we won against a good team." - Mouhammad Faye, Al Rayyan

"I feel like today was just minor details. The rebounds we should have caught, especially on defense. They moved the ball very well and were able to find the open shots and the open layups. Like I said to Coach and the team, I think this was a good thing for us losing this game, now we can learn being at such a high level in WASL now and just look forward to our next game in Saudi, and then the next game in WASL." - Devin Ebanks, Al-Ahli Jeddah

FIBA