MANAMA (Bahrain) - Thursday night proved to be a homecoming of sorts as Mosti Rashed found himself playing in the BBA Arena again after a long while.
The only difference this time, though, is that he's donning different colors. From sporting the blue and red of Manama, he's now clad in the red and white of Al Arabi SC as both teams met in the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League.
It was weird to play against Manama after nine years of playing with them.
And he would be the first to admit that it felt different playing against his former team, where he enjoyed much success early in his budding basketball career.
"I never knew exactly how I would feel playing against Manama. It felt different, but happily [different]," offered the star playmaker with a smile.
It's the first time that Rashed went up against the Bahraini powerhouse and it was totally understandable that he felt strangely in doing so. He played for Manama for almost a decade, basically growing up with the renowned organization.
"It was weird to play against Manama after nine years of playing with them," said the 22-year-old, who also spent a few years playing professionally with his bro, Ali.
Aside from that, Rashed, without any shadow of a doubt, will forever have that affinity with the ball club, especially with all that they achieved together.
One of which, of course, was taking home the inaugural WASL crown in 2023. There, he starred with 18 points to help beat Kuwait Club, 67-59, delivering the clutch free throws to seal the deal - and write their names in the league's history books.
But it would also be in that same year when he flew to Qatar and signed with Al Arabi, where he finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a foreign player out of Bahrain.
Rashed, though, was able to put everything aside and focus on the task at hand. He went on to finish with 14 points on a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc, helping his side to an 85-84 win that saw the crew claw its way back from 21 points down.
"I enjoyed playing against Manama," he said as they kept Manama winless in their first two games this season - a first for the contenders in this league.
It's a homecoming that couldn't get any sweeter for the youngster although he's more elated with the fact that they finally broke through the WASL win column, especially after suffering a beatdown at the hands of Ittihad Club in their debut.
He was left beaming with proud as well with how his teammates performed, from Moustafa Fouda (20 points) to Elmedin Kikanovic (20 points) and to Khaled Abdelbaset as they all played a key role in pulling off the epic comeback.
The victory has made the seasoned internationalist filled with optimism, too, about their campaign in the pan-regional tournament moving forward.
"As Coach [Hatem Mamlouk] said, we have so many players that are high-level, and with big minds. I'm happy to play with them. Whatever is coming next is much better, inshallah," said Rashed. "Inshallah, it's coming on the way."
FIBA