KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Al Qadsia SC took the solo lead in Group B of the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League following a 91-83 victory over the visiting Ittihad Club at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex, Wednesday night.
The Kuwaiti side leaned on a big second-half assault abridging the third and fourth quarters to come out triumphant in the meeting between basketball regional rivals, notching their second win in as many outings as well in the process.
Ittihad, on the other hand, fell to 1-1 as they couldn't keep their winning ways from a dominant 86-64 conquest of Al Arabi in their league debut last week.
Game heroes: Four players finished in double figures in the win, with Tomislac Zubcic leading the way with 21 points and 9 rebounds as the Croatian big man clearly made up for his ejection early in their eventual 90-84 win over Manama the last time out.
Chinemelu Elonu came through with a solid double-double of 18 points - spiked by a 3-of-5 clip from deep - and 16 rebounds, along with an assist, a steal, and a block each for an efficiency of 30 to take home STEP AHEAD Player of the Game honors.
Abdulaziz Alhamidi and Phil Greene, meanwhile, finished with 16 points apiece in the triumph that saw a total of eight players chip in at least 3 points.
Turning point: Elonu was responsible in giving Qadsia the lead for good when he converted a three-point play for the 63-62 edge to finish the third canto.
Sayed Akbar then opened the final chapter with a pair of free throws off a Mathna Almarwani foul, and shortly after all of the team would get in the groove as Zubcic and Alhamidi came in to put together a 15-2 run in total for a 75-62 lead with 7:14 to go.
Ittihad, though, managed to cut the gap to only three with less than three minutes remaining but Mohammad Aldakheel nailed a corner triple shortly after, and Greene followed it up with a layup of his own to push their lead to 83-75 with 1:54 left.
The game would be reduced to a free throw contest in the final moments with the Saudi Arabian side hoping to stage another comeback, but they could only do so much as Green and Zubcic nailed the closing charities to seal the 8-point win.
Stats don't lie: After making 16 treys against Manama, Qadsia nailed 17 this time - just four away from tying, five from surpassing the WASL record for most threes in a game set by Muharraq last season in a 116-75 drubbing of Shabab Al Ahli in Game 2 of their WASL-Gulf Qualification to Semi-Finals last March.
They said: "First of all, I'm glad we're off to a 2-0 start in WASL. We had to do that. We had to take care of business at home because on the road, it will be a lot tougher. I thought we played hard, I thought defensively for the most part we played how we wanted to play. The last five, six minutes we kinda got away from our fundamentals and allowed them to cut into our lead. I thought we relied on the three-point shot. Even though we made more three-pointers than them, it was probably our lowest percentage of the year. But in saying all that, when you come out with a victory and you don't play to your best, it says a lot about the toughness and character of your players." - Joey Stiebing, Head Coach, Al Qadsia SC
"Our club played two tough games, first against Manama and now Ittihad. I still believe that we have room to improve. We're happy to be winning but we think we have a level to reach that we haven't reached yet in this tournament. Hopefully we will see that in the games going forward." - Abdulaziz Alhamidi, Al Qadsia SC
"Yes they made a run, but we came back in the game. We didn't give up. This is something that this team has, especially on defense. But on offense, we were very bad. I was pissed off many times but I do not have five or six timeouts to take and tell them to control the rhythm. It was very bad." - Piksi Subotic, Head Coach, Ittihad Club
"Qadsia played a better game than us. The offense went a little haywire, particularly in the second half. We have six or seven new players, so the chemistry is not there yet. Having said that, we will learn our lessons from this game going forward into the season. We will build on this." - Mathna Almarwani, Ittihad Club
FIBA