MANAMA (Bahrain) - Al Arabi SC staged an epic comeback to beat Manama, 85-84, and grab their first win in the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL season, Thursday night.
Tuning out the noise of the hostile crowd that trooped to the BBA Arena, the Qatari side rallied back from 21 points down before pulling off the great escape in a marked improvement from their humiliating loss to Ittihad Club in their league debut.
Khaled Abdelbaset nailed four straight points to push their lead to 83-79 heading into the game's last two minutes, before Lady Luck swooped in to help the crew come away victorious and hike their record to 1-1 to rise to second in Group B.
Manama did manage to knock within a point behind a perfect trip to the charity stripe with 54.1 seconds left, but the American guard could not complete his endgame heroics as his potential game-winner - an off-balanced shot off the glass - missed.
Shortly after, Al Arabi would erupt in jubilation while leaving the perennial contenders a frustrated bunch, as they got pushed to an unfamiliar territory.
Game heroes: Moustafa Fouda delivered 20 points on a 5-of-10 clip from deep, scoring 8 in the fourth to help swing the momentum in their favor. He fell just short of a double-double as he collected 9 assists and finished with an efficiency of 26.
Elmedin Kikanovic came through with 20 points as well alongside 7 rebounds as the WASL and BCL Asia champion with Al Riyadi proved to be the inside presence that the team has been longing for - one that could help fulfill their hopes this season, too.
Abdelbaset registered 16 points, spiked by a trio of triples, while Mosti Rashed chipped in 14 points in a game that meant so much for the young star.
It was the first time that the spitfire guard played against Manama, the very same team he led to the inaugural WASL championship back in 2023.
Turning point: Fouda and Kikanovic were mainly responsible in the reversal. With Al Arabi trailing by five entering the final frame, the tandem powered a 12-0 run toward a 72-65 lead with 6:22 to go. Manama could only play catch-up the rest of the way.
Stats don't lie: It is the first time that Manama started a WASL season at 0-2. A quick check in their past records saw the club split their first two games in the 2022/2023 competitions, then raced to a 2-0 start in the 2023/2024 meet.
They said: "We wanted to come back stronger after our loss to Saudi ... We tried aggressively in coming back into the game because we didn't want to repeat what happened in Saudi." - Hatem Mamlouk, Head Coach, Al Arabi SC
"Nobody wants to take a big lead and lose the game. But this is basketball. This is life. If you lose three quarters like we did ... simply, we lost by not being ready for many reasons. As far as Arabi, I want to congratulate them for the win, I want to congratulate them for winning the Arab Championship. For us, one thing we're supposed to do is to get on the court, and work hard, like we've been doing in the last three years where we had success. Nobody's winning titles in November." - Linos Gavriel, Head Coach, Manama
"Nothing was running through my mind, really. I had a good look at it. I just missed it." - Tony Carr, Guard, Manama
FIBA