BAGHDAD (Iraq) - All of Al-Ittihad Ahli gathered at center court and celebrated their conquest of Al Naft to get back on track in the FIBA WASL-West Asia League on Wednesday night.

But that joyous moment among brothers-in-arms wasn't just because they ended a two-game slide. They were proud as the crew qualified for the next round of the sub-zone league.

"I'm very happy for the team, for the city of Aleppo, for Syria," said head coach Mohamed Ferjani in the postgame presser of their 74-62 victory at the Al Shaeb Hall in the Iraqi capital.

It's a historic feat for Al-Ittihad Ahli as they became the very first Syrian ball club to advance in FIBA WASL-West Asia, indeed a major turnaround for a team that did not have the most ideal of campaigns back in the pan-regional competition's inaugural festivities.

Looking back at Season 1, the team lost all of their four assignments and unfortunately had to withdraw from the tourney in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquake.

But now, almost a year later, the 10-time domestic league champions can put all of it behind them with what they have achieved thus far, much to the delight of Anthouny Bakar.

The seasoned guard climbed up to the bleachers to celebrate with some fans in a scene that perfectly encapsulated the euphoria of his team reaching the next round on his birthday.

"I want to congratulate all the Syrian fans for this win," said Bakar. "We played so hard for this game. Our goal was to qualify for the second round, and we did it perfectly. Compared to last year, where we lost all games, we improved one step forward."

Play hard they did which was evident as early as the second quarter, where they began to establish control before pulling away in the final period en route to their second win of the tilt.

Al-Ittihad Ahli are presently at third in the Group A standings with a 2-2 card and could still improve their positioning as they still have Sagesse and Shahrdary Gorgan next.

That's the goal of Bakar and Co., as they all don't intend to settle, with their sights keen on not just advancing to the next round but going as deep as they can into the tilt.

"We're not stopping here," he said "We're looking forward to the semifinals. We're very proud to be the first Syrian team to qualify for the Second Round of WASL-West Asia."

"We know it's a very hard competition. All the tough teams have very good imports. But we're going, as Coach says, step by step," the 30-year-old furthered.

FIBA