BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The inaugural season of FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) - Gulf started with a bang as the fans were treated to four exciting opening games.

All of the games left the spectators on the edges of their seats up to the final minutes, with intense back and forth action for all of the 8 teams participating in the league’s first season. Each of the games saw the lead change hands in the final seconds of regulation with one game even going into overtime.

As a matter of fact, across these four games, the lead changed hands for a total of 32 times. The gaps between each of the teams were so close that each game was decided by a single digit margin for an average margin of only 3.8 points per contest.

In the first official game of WASL - Gulf League on Monday, 19 December, the visiting Shabab Ah Ahli - Dubai saw their lead of as large as 22 points over home team Al Bashaer evaporate in the second half, but were able to recover for a 71-69 win with a last second shot by Nick Minnerath.

On the same opening day, Al Hilal engaged in a tight contest with Kazma where the lead changed hands 11 times. The final lead change was made right before the final buzzer as Khalid Abdel Gabar knocked down a tough three-pointer to give the home team a 96-92 victory in Saudi Arabia.

The action in the second gameday of WASL - Gulf League didn’t slow down.

Kuwait Club were nearly upset at home against Al Sadd and found themselves trailing by 3 points with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter after leading by as much as 17 points. However, Jacob Pullen pulled through with a marvelous step-back three-pointer to force overtime, where Kuwait Club would eventually follow through by claiming the 99-93 victory.

The last game of the week in WASL - Gulf League followed the trend of closely contested games as Al Manama spoiled Al Nasr Riyadh’s first home game. It seemed as if Al Manama would run away with the victory as they build a 13-point lead towards the end of the third quarter, but the home side came roaring back to claim the lead in the last two minutes. However, with the traveling fans of Al Manama rallying from the stands, the Bahrain-based club made one last push to score the last 6 points of the game to complete a 75-72 win.

All signs are pointing towards an entertaining season in WASL - Gulf League as all 8 championship caliber teams fight for spots in WASL - Final 8 which is a step closer to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup and, subsequently, the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

This inaugural season will progress in the Group Stage with all teams in the same group playing against each other in a home-and-away format. At the end of the Group Stage, the first-place teams in each group will advance directly to the Semi-Finals. The second- and third-place teams will crossover to play in the Qualification to Semi-Finals match-ups.

The top three teams in WASL - Gulf League along with the top three games in WASL - West Asia will qualify for WASL - Final 8, to be joined by the champions from India (South Asia Sub-Zone) and Kazakhstan (Central Asia Sub-Zone).

FIBA