KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Shabab Al Ahli secured a direct flight to the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League Semi-Finals following a vengeful 90-83 victory over Kuwait Club on Monday night at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex.
The visiting side from UAE flew into the Kuwaiti capital hungry for payback after dropping a narrow 71-75 decision in their previous meeting and got what they wanted, in the process achieving a breakthrough triumph for the club.
It never captured the no. 1 seed in the Sub-Zone Leagues' Group Phase during the pan-regional competition's first two seasons, but the present batch flipped the script this time and clinched top dog status in Group A with a 5-1 record.
Kuwait Club did finish with the same card but ended up as the second seed in the group, indeed an unfamiliar situation for the reigning, two-time Gulf League champions after booking outright trips to the Semis during their golden runs.
Instead, they will have to go through the wringer that is the Qualification to Semi-Finals, meaning that the road would be tougher in their bid for a three-peat.
Game heroes: Hamed Lateef starred anew as he finished with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, eventually bagging home STEP AHEAD Player of the Game honors after notching back-to-back 25-point performances.
Sir'Dom Pointer supplied 18 points and 5 rebounds. Deshawndre Washington, on the other hand, nearly registered a triple-double after producing a 16-7-9 stat line.
Lead big man Qais Alshabebi tallied a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, while frontcourt partner Omer Alameri came through with 11 points.
Turning point: Game was tied at 62-all entering the game's final 10 minutes but Shabab Al Ahli were quick to set the pace, with Alshabebi and Washington going perfect in their respective trips to the foul line for a four-point lead.
Lateef and Pointer would join the fray moments later and in a snap, the squad had put together a 10-0 run for a 72-62 advantage with 7:30 on the clock.
They would remain in the lead since, with Pointer even pushing the gap to 11 points, 88-77, following a triple off a Washington assist with less than a minute to go.
Stats don't lie: It was actually a night of firsts for the inaugural BCL Asia runners-up as they finally ended a winless four-game losing skid against Kuwait Club following the result - a skid that dates back to the 2022/2023 Gulf League Semis.
They said: "I'm very proud of everyone. The guys did a great job. I'm very happy because in 30 days, this kind of [result] from the players is more than what we've expected." - Miodrag Perisic, Head Coach, Shabab Al Ahli
"Alhamdulillah, we got the win today. Hard luck for Kuwait Club. They had a good performance today, but we were better. We were much better at moving the ball. We'll focus on the next step. We'll take it step by step." - Hamed Lateef, Guard, Shabab Al Ahli
"I don't think we were ready to play basketball today. It didn't feel like that to me before the game, but I would say we haven't had any games in a long time, any meaningful challenges. So I really have no idea where I am with the team. I think the team doesn't know where we are. We just have no rhythm." - Peter Schomers, Head Coach, Kuwait Club
"Basketball is a game of runs. We knew they were gonna come to fight. We knew they were gonna come to play. But at the end of the day, it's on us to protect our homecourt. But it's not the end of the world, we got to lock in and get ready. That's all we can do: get ready for what's to come." - Briante Weber, Kuwait Club
FIBA