Undefeated Kuwait Club shoot for repeat vs Al Sadd; Al Manama aim for first win streak
BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Perfection will be the goal of Kuwait Club as they enter into a crucial stretch of the WASL-Gulf preliminaries this week.
Toting a 3-0 record, the Group B leaders only have nothing but extending their unbeaten streak in mind when they fly to Qatar to face the upset-seeking Al Sadd on Tuesday night at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall.
Also looking to keep their success going are Al Manama, who will try to get their second straight win when they host Al Nasr Riyadh at the BBA Arena.
Group B
6/12 games played
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 |  Kuwait Club |
3 | 3 | 0 | 100 | 296 | 264 | 32 | 98.7 | 88 | 6 |
| 2 |  Al Manama |
3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 | 262 | 257 | 5 | 87.3 | 85.7 | 5 |
| 3 |  Al Sadd |
3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 | 265 | 275 | -10 | 88.3 | 91.7 | 4 |
| 4 |  Al Nasr Riyadh |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 232 | 259 | -27 | 77.3 | 86.3 | 3 |
23 January 2023
24 January 2023
Kuwait Club are coming off a 106-83 victory over the winless Al Nasr Riyadh, where they reset WASL-Gulf's scoring record and eclipsed the previous mark of 99 set twice, first by themselves and then by Al Manama -- both against Al Sadd.
Eyes are on them if they can repeat against the Qatari side, although they surely know that they'll be up against tough competition based on their first meeting alone. They did come out triumphant then, 99-93, but not before surviving in overtime.
Al Sadd are definitely eyeing payback, and serving as another motivation for the crew is the 99-94 OT heartbreaker they suffered at the hands of Al Manama.
Similar to their encounter with Kuwait Club, Al Sadd also fought back from behind against the Bahraini squad, but could not find the finishing kick.
Getting back on track is their primary goal, no doubt, now that they are currently running third in the group standings with a 1-2 record.
Al Sadd are sitting behind Al Manama, who improved to 2-1 following that pulsating win in a match that should go down as one of the best games of the season.
They aim to keep hold of that no. 2 spot should they win against Al Nasr, but it would be no easy task as they will be facing a team hoping to break through and stay alive in the hunt after suffering three losses in as many outings.
YOUNG STAR TO WATCH
Mustafa Rashed
Guard
Al Manama
Mosti Rashed only scored a grand total of 2 points in Al Manama's first-ever WASL game against Al Nasr Riyadh, but has since picked it up.
And he's done so impressively based on his last two games. After scoring 13 against Kuwait Club, the 21-year-old fired a season-high 18 points -- spiked by a trio of 3-pointers -- to help his side to the OT win against Al Sadd on the road.
Entering Monday, the Bahrain men's team standout is averaging 11.0 points on 37.9/33.3/71.4 shooting splits, on top of 2.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals.
FIBA
