FIBA West Asian Super League Final 8:
Shahrdari off the mark, remains in last-four contention
Shahrdari Gorgan notched their first win in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final 8 2026 by defeating Qatar’s Al Arabi SC 85-76 on Tuesday at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Zouk Mikael, Lebanon.
Navid Rezaeifar and Jordan Stevens took turns sparking the Iranian side’s fourth-quarter pullaway as it broke through in Group B and, more importantly, revived its semifinal aspirations.
The 2024 bronze medalists improved to 1-1 after losing steam against Sagesse SC in their opener and will try to strengthen their bid when they take on Saudi outfit Al Ula Club on Thursday. Al Ula is also 1-1 after losing to Sagesse later in the day.
“My players fight as one,” said Shahrdari head coach Mehran Hatami when asked about his team’s confidence entering the crucial game. “As you saw, our team was not dependent on one individual. We played as a team, and we won.”
Shahrdari did rely on collective effort to enter the win column, with Rezaeifar top-scoring for Hatami’s side with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, along with seven rebounds.
Returning big man Sajjad Pazirofteh was solid as well, posting a strong double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. He recorded an efficiency rating of 28 to earn Player of the Game honors.
Pazirofteh put Shahrdari ahead for good late in the third quarter, scoring on the break to untie the 48-48 deadlock. Rezaeifar followed with a layup to widen the gap to 52-48.
Back-to-back three-pointers by D’Angelo Harrison pushed their lead to a game-high 17 points at 79-62 with 3:21 remaining, which proved enough for Shahrdari to put away what had been a tightly contested game early on.
Stevens finished with 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists, while Harrison also chipped in 12 as Shahrdari’s supporting cast stepped up and the team did not need its reinforcements to do the heavy lifting.
“In the previous game, we hustled a lot. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough practice together as a team. We were not lucky, especially in the last moments of the game. Now, we’re past these two games,” Rezaeifar said.
“Now, we can think about the next game,” continued the Iran national team veteran, stressing the importance of the upcoming clash with Al Ula. “We are thinking about the next game, which is very important for us.”
Mosti Rashed, meanwhile, had a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead the Red Devils, who fell to 0-2 and are now in a precarious position in their bid to reach the semifinals.