KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Al Qadsia SC fortified their hopes of clinching the no. 1 seed in Group B of the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League by eliminating Al Arabi SC, 89-77, Tuesday night at the Shaiklh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex.
The Kuwaiti side pulled away late behind Chinemelu Elonu, Abdullah Alsaeid, and Sek Henry to finish the Group Phase with a 4-2 card and, more importantly, keep their aspirations of booking a direct trip to the Sub-Zone League's Semi-Finals alive.
Now, they will closely monitor the game between Manama and Ittihad Club, which is being played as of this posting, to see where they could possibly end up in the standings. The first FIBA WASL champions are toting a 3-2 record.
Game heroes: Alsaeid led the pack with 23 points as he nailed five of the team's 11 three-pointers in yet another solid showing from deep by the home team. He also collected 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal for an efficiency of 27.
Henry finished with 18 points on a 6-of-13 clip from the floor alongside 5 rebounds, while Elonu registered another double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
Turning point: Qadsia were staring at a one-point deficit early in the final period but Elonu nailed a baseline jumper to take the 65-64 lead with 9:04 to go.
They'd be ahead the rest of they although it wasn't until the last five minutes where the squad would put it out of reach. After an Elonu split, Alsaeid hit a trey before Henry came in to put together nine straight points for an 81-71 lead with 3:07 left.
Stats don't lie: Qadsia shot 44-percent from the floor and that's big thanks to their 20 assists as they kept on finding the best possible shot, displaying top-notch teamwork which their injury-riddled counterparts struggled to emulate.
They said: "It's a great accomplishment. All the credit goes to our guys. They are the ones that put us in this position. And they have a great opportunity now to show the rest of the Gulf and the WASL what they're capable of. And so I'm happy from that standpoint." - Joey Stiebing, Head Coach, Al Qadsia SC
"It felt very good because this was a game that we needed to win, and we didn't want to be in a situation that we have to play multiple games just to make it to the next round. So for us, even for me mentally, my mindset was like: whatever it takes, let's just get the win." - Sek Henry, Guard, Al Qadsia SC
"It was a great experience playing in WASL. It will help us for the next season, to focus in getting more players so we can play better. We'd like to thank our players. We tried our best." - Hatem Mamlouk, Head Coach, Al Arabi SC
FIBA