Malabes proud as in-transition Muharraq beat odds, end Kuwait Club's streak

KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Bader Malabes couldn't be any prouder to see Muharraq overcome struggles on the way to writing FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) history on Monday night.

The Bahraini side has been going through major changes, but that hardly affected them on the hardwood as they stunned Kuwait Club to end the reigning Gulf League champions' unbeaten 13-game winning streak in the sub-zone, which dates back to the inaugural season.

"We were able to adjust today, and we did very well," he said shortly after their 101-96 victory at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex in the Kuwaiti capital.

The team just recently bid goodbye to former head coach Ahmed Jan and brought in Saleh Ahmed Alhaddad to take over the reins left by the youthful bench tactician.

Monday night served as his FIBA WASL debut, and things appeared bleak for him when Muharraq only had Tyler Wilkerson as their reinforcement in the affair.

The team missed the services of veterans Austin Daye and Ra'Shad James, both of which played key roles in their 79-65 road win over Al Rayyan last December 13.

"We had to adjust. Just today, the day itself of the game, [we found out we were] playing with one import. Everything has changed in the team's system," said Malabes.

But all that didn't seem to bother the squad, with Malabes himself leading the way with a FIBA WASL personal-best 34 points on a 5-of-10 clip from beyond the arc to help his crew exact vengeance for the 108-92 beating they received in the season opener.

The seasoned floor general was part of the fourth-quarter unit that finished the game strongly after seeing themselves knotted at 81-all with the home team on the way to registering their third win in a row to gain a share of the top spot of Group A.

Seeing the steadiness of Malabes, as well as Mohamed Juma and Ali Mohamed, in situations as challenging as the endgame makes their new coach beam with pride.

"It's tough. I've been coaching the team for like a week—I haven't even passed a week's time. But the nature of the players I have and the mental preparedness they brought to this game would give any coach an easier job to come over and handle this team," said Alhaddad.

FIBA