KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Kuwait Club leaned on a strong fourth-quarter showing by Jamal Jones to take down Al Ula Club, 113-108, and barge into the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-Gulf League win column on Tuesday night.
The 32-year-old finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 11 in the said period to lead their strong charge to maintain control of the match before coming through with crucial free throws late to ice the game.
He produced nine of the team's first 11 points of the fourth to push their lead to 98-88 with 6:55 to go, which would balloon to its highest at 12 later on before the opposition pulled off a last-ditch effort for a rally.
The team from Saudi Arabia got to within just one possession, 111-108, behind Jonathan Gibson and Wael Arakji but Jones was there to deliver the final blow, going 2-for-2 from the line with 14.5 ticks left to seal the deal.
Big thanks to him, the former two-time Sub-Zone League titlists bounced back from their 83-78 loss to Al Arabi SC last Tuesday at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex as well and improved to 1-1 in Group B.
"I want to congratulate all my players for one great game," offered head coach Dusan Stojkov. "And of course, to Al Ula, they have created a really good team, but we were ready for this fight tonight."
Charlie Moore top-scored for Kuwait Club with 29 points, including the rare four-point play conversion that gave themselves a 106-95 lead with 3:10 remaining as he was also instrumental in their solid fourth quarter.
The Hasan Brothers Hamad and Moh fired 18 and 17 points, respectively, on a combined 8-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc as the two finally clicked together after the latter was hardly felt against the Red Devils.
In fact, it was Moh who stretched their lead to 109-97 with 2:38 to spare behind a corner triple, somewhat announcing his comeback after missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season because of a wrist injury.
Joffrey Lauvergne chipped in 13 points and 8 rebounds plus 3 assists for Kuwait Club, who will look to make it back-to-back wins when they test the mettle of UAE champions Sharjah SC on November 18 - still at home.
"After the tough loss, we showed character and showed up really well in this game. It's not only about the win, it's also about how we play," saod Stojkov, whose team shot 50.6-percent from the floor and dished 22 assists.
Leading Al Ula in the loss, on the other hand, was the tandem of Arakji and Gibson once again as they combined for 64 points. The reigning WASL MVP had 33 points and 9 assists while Gibson submitted a line of 31-5-7.
Thon Maker and Mo Alsuwailem supplied 17 points apiece and hauled down 18 of the squad's 41 rebounds together in the defeat, in which they failed to sustain a hot start that saw them race to a 24-12 lead.
Al Ula, who fell to 1-1, will look to get back on track quickly against Al Arabi on November 12 in Doha.
FIBA