KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Al Arabi SC found their extra gear entering the home stretch en route to beating Kuwait Club, 83-78, to start off their 2026-25 FIBA WASL-Gulf League season on a high note on Tuesday night.
The reigning Qatari Basketball League champions leaned on clutch plays by Sindou Diallo, Elmedin Kikanovic, and Mosti Rashed to eventually complete the comeback after trailing by as many as 11 during the third.
"We need to be able to thrive under pressure and this team is built for those things," offered head coach Hatem Mamlouk. "This was a big game, and so the pressure is nothing new - in fact, they thrive in it."
Diallo gave themselves the lead for good with a perfect trip to the foul line, and then followed it up with a booming trifecta before making another set of free throws for the 79-76 lead entering the game's final minute.
Kikanovic then came through with a crucial bucket from point-blank, being at the right place at the right time as he cleaned up Rashed's missed layup to carve enough breathing room at 81-78 with 28.6 seconds to spare.
That proved to be the beginning of the end for the home team, with Hamad Hasan missing his attempt at tying the game as his launch from deep hit only the rim which Diallo would go on to collect with 10 ticks left.
Rashed would then atone for his earlier miss, icing the game by going 2-for-2 from the stripe with 4.4 seconds left - much to the disappointment of the Kuwaiti fans at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex.
"We felt that to beat a team like Kuwait, we needed to control the tempo of the game, and we needed to play good defense. We figured that by slowing it down or speeding it up, we could win close games," said Mamlouk.
Rashed led all scorers with 29 points behind an excellent 7-of-10 shooting from deep as he played all 40 minutes. He shot 9-of-16 from the floor all in all and also added 2 rebounds and 2 assists to his tally.
Kikanovic played for the entirety of the match as well and wound up with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Abdulraman Saad also came through with 14 points, which he laced with 7 rebounds.
Al Arabi will look to continue their winning ways when they take on WASL newcomers Sharjah SC on November 4, Tuesday, at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall in Dubai. Game time is at 19:00 local time.
Kuwait Club, meanwhile, leaned on Jamal Jones and Charlie Moore with 26 and 23 points, respectively, in the defeat - the very first time that the former two-time WASL-Gulf League titlists lost a WASL opener.
The crew won all of their opening games during the previous three seasons.
Coach Dusan Stojkov and his charges will look to clinch their first win of the new season when they go up against Wael Arakji and the 1-0 Al Ula Club next Tuesday, October 28, still in Kuwait City at 19:00 local time.
FIBA