Competitive Hasan bros take turns in starring for still-perfect Kuwait Club

KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Mohammed Hasan took the spotlight in Kuwait Club's streak-stretching win over Al Rayyan in the FIBA WASL-Gulf League Season 2 on Monday night.

The 23-year-old forward finished with 20 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting from the field, spiked by four three-pointers, and 6 rebounds to set the pace in the 85-62 home victory.

He made 10 of his points in the first quarter alone, including back-to-back three-pointers to finish the period that gave his side the 21-10 advantage - which they'd never relinquish.

"It's not something that I'm consciously doing aggressively, it's more of my teammates finding me and trusting me to make the shots," he offered humbly regarding his performance during the postgame press conference at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex.

It was the defending Gulf League champions' second win in as many games, and it also marked another night where one of the talented Hasan Brothers showed the way.

It could be recalled that Hamad headlined their 108-92 conquest of newcomers Muharraq back in the season opener last November 13 at the latter's own turf at the BBA Arena in Manama.

There, the big bro erupted for 28 points - then the most points in a single game by a non-foreign player in the FIBA WASL-Gulf League - on 8 triples, together with 3 rebounds and 4 assists in only 25 minutes of action. His showing enabled him to record an efficiency rating of 32.

Was 'Mo' inspired to perform that way against Al Rayyan, he was asked.

His response?

"Me and my brother have a competition," he said, smiling, "but it's not something that goes to the detriment of the team."

"Whoever is having the hot hand, at any point, we will continue to feed the ball to him. And we will make sure that our little friendly competition will not be detrimental to the team."

That 'little friendly competition' is surely not affecting the team negatively. After beating their Qatari counterparts, Kuwait Club have remained on top of Group A, which is another step in their goal of finishing the pool as the no. 1 seed to directly reach the Gulf League Semi-Finals.

Making head coach Peter Schomers all the more proud with the win was that the victory suggested that his team could win games without having to rely heavily on their reinforcements.

Although Cady Lalanne (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Marcus Georges-Hunt (15 points) managed to provide enough lift, Mohammad and the locals proved to be the difference against Al Rayyan.

Turki Alshemmari, for one, had a season-high 16 points, missing only once in the seven shots he took. Then of course, there's Hamad, who finished with 11 points, 6 boards, and 7 dimes.

"I'm happy for Mo. Mo had a great game, he scored 20 points, and shot great. Turki played a very good game, Hamad played a great game," lauded Schomers.

"So, this is what made the difference in this game, those three local players," the champion bench tactician furthered. "It's a good win. It's a different win but it's a good win for us, knowing that we don't have to rely on all three of our foreigners, and still win."

FIBA