KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Ittihad Club took the provisional lead in Group A of the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-Gulf League following a 92-81 victory over Kazma at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex on Monday night.
Erick Neal, Ibrahime Faye, and Nasser Alabsi joined hands for the finishing kick as the Saudi Basketball League champions needed to repel the home team's rally late en route to netting their second win in as many games.
"It's a great position. But nothing happens in November or December," said Coach Slobodan Subotic. "This is a good place, but there are still so many games for our team - not only in WASL, but in the Saudi league."
Alabsi nailed a crucial triple before Faye caught a lob off a flash from the weak side for an alley-oop to push their lead to 86-79 with 2:10 to go - shots which both came from finds by the league's new assists king in Neal.
The opposition did foil that mini-run behind Hussain Alkhabbaz but there was no stopping the visiting team anymore, as Alabsi and Faye scored the last six points of the match to secure the road victory.
Now, they're off to a 2-0 start in WASL for the first time after failing to do so during their maiden campaign last season although that rocky start ultimately led to a Cinderella story, which culminated to a runner-up finish.
"They have character. My players have character. They showed this to me last year, also this year," offered Subotic. "They refuse to lose. This is something that I'm very happy about, being the coach of this team."
Lead big man Mohammed Almarwani top-scored for the Tigers with 22 points and 8 rebounds as he was the catalyst of their good start into the game, which saw him tally 15 and 5 to his name in just the first half.
Faye and Jarrell Eddie finished with 18 points apiece and combined for 14 rebounds, while Mathna Almarwani managed to chip in 10 points before fouling out of the ballgame midway into the final quarter.
Neal, who made history in their season-opening win versus defending WASL-Gulf League champions Shabab Al Ahli in Dubai by tallying 17 assists, had 12 this time on top of his 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals.
Ittihad will look to make it three in a row when they take on Muharraq in Manama, Bahrain on November 10.
Leading Kazma, on the other hand, was Phil Greene, who once again played all 40 minutes and finished with a game-high 28 points, 20 of which he made in the first half as he tried to carry the fight for a depleted unit.
The Kuwaiti Division 1 League outfit lost JaJuan Johnson due to an apparent left hamstring injury at the 6:09-mark of the second chapter, never to return. He left the game with 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Still, the remaining players competed, and even threatened when they chopped what was once a 54-43 deficit during the third to just two points, 81-79, behind Abdulrahman Alshammari with 3:14 remaining in the fourth.
But then, the aforementioned trio came in to save Ittihad as Kazma eventually absorbed their first loss after opening the season with a 95-81 victory over Muharraq just seven days ago in the same venue.
"I saw in their faces how they reacted during a crucial moment when Kazma was only two points behind. They started to play defense, controlled rebounds, scored on offense, and played more like a team," said Subotic.
"And this is something that I really like about my players in this team," he added.
Ahmad Albaloushi flirted with a triple-double with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Alshammari also had 20 points alongside 7 rebounds for Kazma, who will try to bounce back versus Shabab Al Ahli on November 17.
FIBA