DUBAI (UAE) – Hosts United Arab Emirates and strong contenders Kuwait began their campaign to earn a place in the Second Round breezing through their opening Group A encounters in the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers at the Shabab Al Ahli Stadium, Wednesday.
UAE scored the first five points of the game and raced ahead for a 110-64 triumph over Nepal before Kuwait ran ahead 7-0 and thenceforth played well within themselves to thwart Gulf compatriots Oman 88-63.
“We need to win every game we play, and we need to respect every opponent that comes our away,” said UAE coach Mounir Ben Slimane.
“But our real competition begins now,” he said.
Having beaten Nepal UAE have all very familiar opponents in fellow Gulf Sub-Zone teams in the remainder of the competition, their next one against Kuwait on the morrow. Bahrain and Oman lock horns in another Gulf “derby” before that.
“We have a series of tough games coming up,” said guard DeMarco Dickerson who finished with a game-high efficiency of 31 coming from his 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals.
Home court favourite Omer Alameri led UAE’s scoring with 23 points, the Shabab Al Ahli forward reeling in seven of his 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
Nepal coach Sushil Gurung rued the failure on the defensive end.
“We did alright in our offense. But defensively I think our plans didn’t work,” he said.
Nischal Maharjan led Nepal with 24 points.
Kuwait produced all-round effort on the offensive end with five players scoring in double digits to keep their cause in good stead.
Hamad Hasan and Omran Jawhar combined for 26 points and 20 rebounds, the former a collection away from a missing a double-double by a rebound at the Kuwaiti vanguard.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Shaaibi led Oman with 17 points.
FIBA