ALEPPO (Syria) - Al-Ittihad Ahli proved steadier in crunch time as they beat Al Naft, 79-72, for a successful start to their FIBA WASL return, Thursday night at the Al Hamadaniyeh Stadium.

Veterans Anthouny Bakar and Nadim Issa converted on their separate trips to the free throw line in the final seconds to put the game away after the visitors battled back from a 10-point deficit by knocking within just four points twice inside the last 3:52 of the game.

Now they have joined fellow West Asia League returnee Shahrdary Gorgan on top of the Group A standings with 1-0 records following the win witnessed by a capacity crowd.

Game heroes: Will Brown led the home team with 17 points and 17 rebounds, alongside a pair of assists and a block in the 36 minutes and 10 seconds he saw action.

Ken Brown finished with 16 points and 6 assists. Bakar tallied a 12-5-4 stat line while Mohamad Bilal Atil and Issa chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Al-Ittihad.

STEP AHEAD Player of the Game: Aside from being his team's top scorer, Brown also registered a game-high efficiency rating of 30, rightfully earning STEP AHEAD Player of the Game honors.

Turning point: Al-Ittihad began to take control of the game in the third quarter after Atli spearheaded a 9-0 surge towards the 57-47 lead with 4:08 on the clock.

The crew appeared to be in cruise control when it held a 73-63 lead with under four minutes left to play but the Iraqi side refused to wave the white flag. A split from the foul line by Mohammed Falih Nahi got them to within four, 76-72, with only 26 seconds left to play.

Orlando Coleman,, though, committed a foul on Issa moments after and the latter would split his charities to push their lead to five. Coleman tried to cut the gap but missed the three-ball, and it proved to be the beginning of the end for Al Naft as Bakar settled the final count.

Stats don't lie: Overshadowed by the loss was the historic night of Karrar Hamzah, who broke the FIBA WASL all-time single game steals record by racking up 8. The previous mark was 6.

They said: "We're very happy that we're the first Syrian team to have won a game in FIBA WASL. We are happy. We did a good job especially on defense ... They did exactly the game plan we talked about before the game. Credit to our supporters. We are happy." - Safouane Ferjani, Head Coach, Al-Ittihad Ahli

"Al Ahli played a great game tonight. They shot very well. They played smart as a team. I feel like we should have made adjustments during the game for certain things but we'll focus on our next game, We'll be ready." - Antwaine Wiggins, Al Naft

FIBA