DOHA (Qatar) - Al Ula Club took the provisional lead in Group B of the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-Gulf League following an 87-70 trouncing of Al Arabi SC at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall, Tuesday night.
Wael Arakji, Thon Maker, and Jonathan Gibson joined hands for the pivotal 10-0 run to turn a narrow four-point lead to a 66-52 advantage just before the third quarter ended, and that's all they needed to set up the rout.
The Saudi Basketball League outfit would go on to secure the mighty bounce-back after suffering a stinging loss to Kuwait Club the last time out, in the process rising atop the pool after hiking their record to 2-1.
"This game was very important because now, we will have three games in a row in Medina. Hopefully we finish in first place. We'll see," offered head coach Stratos Koukouleikidis as they now brace for their home stand.
Maker top-scored for Al Ula with 21 points for easily his best scoring performance this season to date behind his 5-of-11 shooting from deep. He also collected 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 blocks, netting an efficiency of 27.
Arakji, for his part, came close from notching a triple-double with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists. Mo Alsuwailem came through with 18 points as well, which he laced with 16 rebounds and 3 assists.
Providing the surprise spark in the triumph was Abdulaziz Alalawi as he contributed a season-high 17 points on an excellent 7-of-10 shooting from the field, highlighted by a 3-of-5 clip from three-point distance.
"Players like Arakji, Gibson, and Suwailem, they changed the game. And we gave the opportunity to Maker to shoot the easy shots," said Koukoulekidis. "Maker had much more opportunities to shoot the ball."
Sindou Diallo, on the other hand, led Al Arabi with 23 points in the loss, which is now their second in a row after opening their season with an 83-78 win over Kuwait Club last October 21 at the latter's own floor.
Elmedin Kikanovic made 18 points and 10 rebounds after playing the entire game, while Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem supplied 14 as the trio tried to pick up the slack on a night Mosti Rashed was far from his usual.
After averaging 28.0 points on an impressive 52.6-percent shooting from downtown, the spitfire guard was held to only 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-8 from three, as he was targeted by the defense.
"In the second half, we tried to play like Al Ula with [more] transition offense - after a very good defense against their shooters," said Koukoulekidis as they held the Red Devils to 8-of-27 shooting from beyond the arc.
Both teams will resume their respective WASL campaigns after the much-awaited FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers' first window, which is scheduled to take place from November 27 to December 1.
Al Ula will face Sharjah SC in a rematch on December 10 at the Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hall, while Al Arabi will take on Kuwait Club again on the 16th also at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall.
FIBA