DUBAI (UAE) – Gulf powerhouse Bahrain blew out what seemed a handy early lead, allowed their rivals to call the shots for a major part of the contest before staging a rearguard action that helped them to finish on the winning side of a 81-80 result against regional rivals and hosts UAE, in Group A action of the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers First Round, after another Gulf team Kuwait had run Nepal roughshod in their 88-65 triumph.
Bahrain, who were one win away on two occasions from making it to the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, have thus won both their games so far and are a step closer to a place in the Second Round slated to be played during the International Window in November-December.
UAE and Kuwait too are in a similar situation of being closer to the Second Round, the former despite suffering their first defeat in three games and the latter notching their second win in three games.
Bahrain will hope to clinch their ticket to the next round when they meet Nepal on Sunday, as will UAE when they face yet another Gulf rival Oman.
In a game of see-saw fortunes, Bahrain seemed to surge ahead when they controlled the proceedings in the opening 15 minutes of the game, only to see UAE return the favour in the same coin for the next 20 minutes, setting the stage for another glorious battle of nerves between these two Gulf programs.
With UAE seeming to hold fort, when Qais Alshabebi long range gave them a five-point cushion, Mustafa Rashed and Mohamed Juma turned the heroes for Bahrain.
Rashed blazed the net from beyond the arc to reduce the deficit and would then go on to drive through the lane to consolidate the position. In between, Mohamed Juma would tie the score with a layup and follow it up with a success from the foul-stripe to give Bahrain the edge on the scoreboard, which they managed to cling on to.
Rashed led all scorers with 28 points, in 10/20 field shooting including reeling in four of his seven attempts from long range.
Demarco Dickerson had another team-high for UAE with 27 points.
There was little to doubt on the superior team when Kuwait played, and won, against Nepal.
All but Ali Alhadhoud took to court for Kuwait and all of them scored with Ahmad Albaloushi’s 15 points being the highest.
Shreyas Bahadur Shah scored 14 points and collected half as many rebounds for Nepal.
FIBA