By EARL WRIGHT
JEDDAH — Kuwait Airways basketball team took off to a 2-0 start with West Coast getting in the way of its juggernaut alongside a young Arab team, Jeddah Swag, in the centerpiece Strong Division in the ISA-MODON Basketball Tournament at the MODON Sports Complex court in Phase 2 Industrial City here.
Pulling away steadily in the last two quarters Kuwait Airways cruised to a 101-61 victory against a West Coast side that sorely missed the services of its Arab reinforcements.
As a result, the outcome was no longer in doubt when KA team sat on a 40-38 lead at the turn that ballooned to a 29 points (71-42) in the third quarter.
In its first game of the tournament, Kuwait Airways scored an 82-70 victory over Swag, getting its first four points from playing-coach John Rebulado and breaking free from a back-and-forth game late in the fourth quarter behind back-to-back threes from Tom Basa, who finished the night with 11 points.
The tournament is organized by Industrial Sports Association in cooperation with MODON (Saudi Industrial Property Authority) and co-sponsored by Kuwait Airways.
Waraynon sits at the top of table in the division with a 2-0 win-loss record. Syriana completes the five-team cast.
Saleh Idris’ Swag team is the latest addition to the highly competitive division in the multidivision tournament run by ISA President Eric Abrantes and his crew led by Commissioner Noy Lofamia.
Anthony Villegas led Kuwait Airways’ balanced scoring with 19 points. Morsie Akad and Jay Liam each tallied 10 points, while center Mohammed Salman added 8 points. Moroccan Saed El-Bahi, the other non-Filipino player on the team besides Salman, had 7 points including a buzzer-beating three that gave Kuwait Airways a four-point cushion at the end of the third period.
The Kuwait Airways basketball team enjoys the full support of management, led by Regional Director Meshal Al-Dalak, as the national carrier of Kuwait taps the Filipino market in its marketing strategy, according to Western Region District Sales Manager Muneer Ahmed.
Lee Convento and Martin Ramos are the team managers with Alfie Manalang, Ariel Pascua and Arnel Senosin as assistant coaches.
