Kuwait Club produced a stunning final quarter performance to beat Manama, 95-85, in the second game of the best-of-three FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL)-Gulf Region final series, capping their unbeaten run in the tournament by winning the inaugural title at the Khalifa Sports City Arena last night.
Having led 47-39 at half-time and 64-63 coming into the fourth and final quarter, Kuwait Club saw Manama – who needed to win after having lost the first game last week – go quickly into the lead after Lamont Jones put his side ahead, 65-64, with a two-pointer in the first minute before his teammate Mustafa Rashed sank a three-pointer to make it 68-64.
Just seconds later, however, Kuwait Club’s Hamad Hasan replied with a three-pointer of his own to reduce the deficit to just one. Teammate Cody Lalanne then easily deposited three free throws into the basket to put his team ahead 71-68.
In the third minute, Manama’s Ahmed Haji drew a personal foul and also easily made all three awarded personal throws count to enable the hosts to draw level, 71-71.
The arena, nearly two thirds full and composed almost entirely of Manama supporters, reverberated with an ear-shattering roar as the home fans celebrated the equaliser.
But there was a sprinkling of Kuwait supporters too and they celebrated just as loudly in the next minute as Marcus Georges-Hunt – who top-scored in the game with 37 points – easily scored a two-pointer to put his team two ahead at 73-71.
Half a minute later, the home fans roared again as Travin Thibodeaux – who top-scored for Manama with 21 points – scored off a free throw after missing the first.
With five minutes left in the game, Manama were just one point behind, at 72-73, and Kuwait Club were clearly on the defensive.
But, suddenly, the momentum shifted over the next couple of minutes as Georges-Hunt, Omran Jawhar and Hasan combined to push the visitors into an eight-point lead, at 82-74.
Now, it was the small Kuwaiti contingent of supporters who had begun to make themselves loudly heard as some Manama fans buried their faces in their hands.
With slightly more than two minutes left until the final buzzer, Manama needed to produce something extraordinary to get into the lead. Instead, they produced a series of personal fouls, each of which generated at least two free throws for Kuwait Club who happily accepted the offerings.
As the game ticked into its final minute, the visitors were leading 86-74 and it looked all over for the hosts, with the stands beginning to empty.
Manama’s Haji then scored a perfect three-pointer to make it 77-86 but another personal foul awarded two more free throws to Kuwait Club and Georges-Hunt made no mistake with either to increase his team’s lead to 11 points, at 88-77.
With 51 seconds left, Rashed scored another three-pointer to make it 80-88 and when two personal fouls in succession were awarded to Kuwait Club with Georges-Hunt and Jawhar making no mistakes with the two free throws each they had to make, the writing was on the wall for Manama with the scoreboard showing a 12-point gap between the hosts and the visitors at 80-92 and only about 25 seconds left.
Thibodeaux managed to score a three-pointer followed by a two-pointer in the remaining time but Jawhar and Georges-Hunt also combined to add another three points to their team’s tally before the buzzer finally sounded.
While Manama will doubtless be disappointed at losing their fourth game in succession to Kuwait Club (after two in the league stage and the first final in Kuwait) and missing out on winning the championship in its inaugural season, their journey in the WASL is not yet over.
Manama will join Kuwait Club and Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai from the WASL-Gulf Region Sub-Zone in the WASL Final Eight competition next month, where they will join West Asia sides Al Riyadi, Gorgan and the winner of the clash between Beirut Club and Zobahan on Thursday.
Domestic league champions from India and Kazakhstan will complete the roster with the top two teams from the Final Eight competition qualifying for the FIBA Champions Cup which provides the pathway to the international basketball body’s leading club competition – the Intercontinental Cup.
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