Shahrdari falls to Al Wahda in West Asia Super League
Iranian champions Shahrdari Gorgan surrendered a first-quarter lead to suffer a 101-92 loss to Al Wahda SC in the FIBA West Asia Super League in Ghazir, Lebanon, on Friday.
The Syrian Basketball League outfit turned things around in the second quarter before finishing strongly to move into the win column after losing its first five outings of the season, keeping its semifinal hopes alive ahead of next month’s playoffs.
They did so at the expense of a side they were scheduled to face last November in Tehran, a meeting that was ultimately cancelled by league officials due to circumstances beyond basketball.
Al Wahda received a major boost from new signing Domagoj Proleta, who impressed on his WASL debut with 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals to earn Capelli Sport Player of the Game honors.
The Croatian forward scored 11 of his points in the second period, nearly matching Shahrdari’s output by himself as he spearheaded a 28-15 run to give Al Wahda a 54-48 lead heading into halftime.
Shahrdari briefly regained the lead early in the third quarter, but the momentum quickly swung back in Al Wahda’s favor, with Proleta combining with Falando Jones to push the margin to 76-67 just before the end of the period.
From there, Al Wahda remained in control, with James Justice Jr. and company knocking down key shots in the closing minutes to ensure they left Ghazir with the victory secured.
Jones finished with 23 points, while Justice added 23 of his own, as the new trio carried much of the scoring load, supported by solid contributions from Bilal Atli, Yousef Abdullah and CJ Maran.
Piter Girgoorian led Shahrdari with 25 points as the Iranian side failed to bounce back from last week’s defeat to BC Astana in Kazakhstan, slipping to a second consecutive loss. Gorgan fell to 3-3 but remained third in the standings.
Amirhossein Yazarloo chipped in with 20 points, while Jordan Hamilton recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the two-time WASL runners-up.