Undefeated no more as Astana deal Kuwait Club first-ever loss in WASL

DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Many have tried, but only BC Astana got it done.

The Kazakhstani powerhouse put an end to Kuwait Club's undefeated streak in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) by way of a 85-72 decision Tuesday night at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall, in the process sweeping their way into the Final 8 Semi-Finals.

Widely perceived as one of their tough tests in the tournament, the inaugural WASL-Gulf champions learned about that consensus the hard way as their bid of extending the winning run to 13 consecutive got foiled by the Central Asia representatives.

Following the rout, Astana have clinched the top seed of Group B with a perfect 3-0 slate, and will be taking on either Manama or Beirut Club in the knockout crossover Semis.

"I'm really proud of my team," said Astana Head Coach Oleg Kiselev." We showed very, very good game. Today, we executed our plan and we showed perfect hustle. But it's only one step."

Karvel Anderson once again led the way with a game-high 24 points on 7 triples,, which are now the most three-pointers made in a single game in the Final 8.

One of his outside shots helped ignite his side's decisive third-quarter run, where Astana turned a slim six-point advantage to a 66-53 lead before the period concluded. Their lead would eventually grow by as big as 17 points, 77-60, with under 6 minutes left in the game.

Veteran big man Dmitriy Gavrilov made his presence felt as well with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Martin Krampelj and Markell Johnson added 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

"You have to give it to them. They were the better team tonight," conceded Kuwait Club head coach Peter Schomers. "It's not impossible for us to beat that team, but it just wasn't there tonight. I hope we see them again in the Finals. That would be great."

Kuwait Club were led by the 16 points of Marcus Georges-Hunt in the loss. Cady Lalanne supplied 14 points, while Hamad Hasan and Thon Maker added 13 and 10, repsectively.

The team ended up as the no. 2 seed of the group, arranging a Semi-Final clash with Group A's best in Al Riyadi (2-0) in a battle between the first-ever Gulf and West Asia champions.

Meanwhile, Shahrdary Gorgan rode the hot hands of Mohammad Jamshidi and Behnam Yakhchali to beat Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai, 85-75, to finish their Final 8 campaign strongly.

Jamshidi finished with a game-high 35 points with an efficiency rating of 38.0, both of which are now single-game records in the Final 8. The veteran internationalist shot an excellent 65.2-percent from the floor, and also collected 4 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals in 36 minutes.

Yakhchali, on the other hand, fired 31 points spiked by 7 triples for an EFF rating of 28.0. He produced 13 of his points in the third quarter to help his side begin taking control of the game.

The WASL-West Asia runners-up concluded their campaign with a 1-2 record.

Shabab Al Ahli, on the other hand, went winless in three games.

FIBA