Khalil, Alhamwi charge to experience Al Wahda's loss to Al Riyadi

DAMASCUS (Syria) - Al Wahda got served a harsh reality check on Thursday night after absorbing a 29-point decimation at the hands of Al Riyadi in their own court.

But Abdulwahab Alhamwi and the squad kept their heads up high, all of them believing that such loss, no matter how crushing, would be beneficial in the long run.

"Tonight, we don't call it a loss. We just call it more experience," said the veteran big man during the postgame presser of their 96-67 defeat at the Al Fayhaa Stadium.

It was the first loss of Al Wahda in FIBA WASL-West Asia, failing to follow up that thrilling 74-70 victory over Al Shorta in their Season 2 opener last November 23.

There, the club overcame a 59-50 deficit early in the fourth quarter on the way to becoming the second Syrian team to win a game in the new pan-regional competition.

Jomaru Brown had 15 of his 34 points in the final period, as he spearheaded the comeback that was greatly fueled by the energy of over 8,500 fans that filled the venue.

The home fans brought it again on Thursday but Al Riyadi were just too composed to be bothered, opening the game with a 17-2 attack to set up the rout.

Head coach Marwan Khalil could only concede to the reigning West Asia League champions, which epitomized team play with their 29 assists that led to a 54.6-percent shooting clip.

"It was a tough game. We knew it from the beginning," admitted the Lebanese bench tactician, formerly of Beirut Club. "Al Riyadi is a very good team. We did what we could. We had small mistakes at the beginning of the game that gave them the advantage in the game."

But similar to what Alhamwi offered, Khalil knows that the beating they received will only contribute to the growth of his youth-laden squad, which has four players born in the 2000s.

"We still have a lot of experience to gain," he said. "Even our foreigners are still young, especially Brown, who gave a good effort but he still needs to learn the game at the international level. And I think it was a good experience for him.

"In addition to that, it was an experience to some of the locals. We're still lacking the international standard and the international level of the game and we need to play more international games, more high-level games to be ready to compete at a higher level."

FIBA