FIBA West Asia Super League:
Tabiat beats Amman United for strong finish in first round
FIBA – Tabiat Basketball exemplified how important short-term memory could be in a quick tournament as the Iranian champion sent Amman United Club skidding 79-64 at the at the Nouhad Naufal Stadium on Saturday night to finish its first-round campaign in the FIBA West Asia Super League strongly.
Coming off a tough 110-100 overtime loss to reigning champion Al Riyadi barely 24 hours ago, the wards of Iranian head coach Mehran Shahintab swiftly moved on and instead vented their frustrations toward the Jordanian crew on the way to netting a third victory in four outings in Group A – indeed a confidence booster for the second round on home soil in April.
Sina Vahedi starred for Tabiat, contributing with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. He also had 4 steals and a block, chalking up an efficiency of 37.
Ivan Buva came through with a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Stedmon Lemon added 16 points as the trio showed how much they wanted to bounce back after losing to the Yellow Castle.
Lemon, who missed what could’ve been the game-winning jumper against Al Riyadi late in regulation, was responsible for kick-starting their third-quarter pullaway toward the W.
As Freddy Ibrahim cut the gap to three, Lemon responded with a jam, and that started a 9-0 run – capped by a Vahedi three-pointer – to push their lead to 12 points, 49-37, with under six minutes remaining.
Tabiat would follow up that solid third quarter with a strong fourth-quarter push, which inflated their lead to two decades’ worth, 70-50, thanks to another outside shot courtesy of Vahedi with 3:55 left to play.
The defending Iran Basketball League champion drained a total of 10 threes, six of which came from Vahedi himself. His 9 assists, furthermore, nearly matched their foes’ output (12).
“We had a short time from last night because we played a tough game ... maybe between these two games we only had maybe around 15 hours. I knew that my players are tired, but they made the decision to have a good game. And today, they managed to organize everything from offense to defense. I appreciate also that they shared the ball very well,” Shahintab said after the game.