Shahrdary Gorgan book trip back to West Asia League Final

BAGHDAD (Iraq) - Shahrdary Gorgan came from behind and beat Al Shorta, 88-83, to make it back to the FIBA WASL-West Asia League Final, Thursday at the Al Shaeb Hall.

The Iranian champions erupted for 30 points in the fourth to complete the reversal after trailing for most of the night on the way to securing a return trip to the sub-zone tilt's title bout - and give themselves another chance at the gold after losing to Al Riyadi last season.

Now they await the winner between the defending West Asia titlists and Sagesse for their opponents in the finale. The all-Lebanese Semis is tied at 1-1 following the Green Castle's epic overtime win last Wednesday in Ghazir, with Game 3 set on April 17.

Game heroes: Sina Vahedi starred in the victory with 28 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, alongside 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.

Navid Rezaeifar backed him up with 20 points on 72.7-percent shooting from the field.

Arsalan Kazemi only had 4 points but his all-around efforts proved big anew as the veteran forward collected 14 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals in nearly 36 minutes of play.

The locals picked it up on a night Will Cherry got held to just 5 points in 19 minutes.

Turning point: Al Shorta appeared to have solved the Gorgan puzzle when they were warding off the latter and held an 83-80 lead with 1:53 to go after a Mohammed Al-Khafaji clean-up.

But the undefeated crew showed why they've been one of the favorites right from the get-go. Mobin Sheikhi tied the game up with a triple from the left wing with 1:21 remaining.

Things would go from bad to worse for the home team since.

Salar Monji put Gorgan ahead following  a split from the line, and Vahedi would go on to nail his last trey of the game to strike the dagger, 87-83, with 20.3 seconds o the clock.

Another split courtesy of Ali Akbari with 11.6 seconds left in the game would eventually settle the final count as Gorgan finished the game with eight unanswered points.

It sure is a tough way to bow out for Al Shorta, who suddenly struggled in the endgame that saw Unique McLean miss two crucial shots and commit a turnover that led to that Vahedi trey.

Stats don't lie: Vahedi's 28 points are the most he's scored this season but it wasn't just him that made a statistical feat in the win. Kazemi's 6 steals aren't only a personal-high but are also tied for second-most with Al Riyadi's Ali Mansour in the West Asia League this season.

They said: "It was possible that we lose this game and we go into a Game 3. But I really appreciate my players for playing really well in the fourth quarter with absolute dedication. I really appreciate them. It was crucial." - Mostafa Hashemi, Head Coach, Shahrdary Gorgan

"That was a really tough game for us. We didn't have [Will Cherry[ in this game because he was not in good condition. I'm really happy that we won and reached the Final." - Sina Vahedi, Shahrdary Gorgan

"We were completely dominated. We made a lot of adjustments. I think the team improved in every aspect of the game today ... Still, we lacked the consistency in defending the close-outs. They had three guards hitting 11-of-19 from three. I think we could've done better. We culd've won the game. But I'm very proud of the team." - Ghassan Sarkis, Head Coach, Al Shorta

"I think we played way better in the last game. Came out and fought. We were embarrassed in the first game so we tried to come out with the first punch ... I think we did a pretty good job. I think we just failed in the last three minutes or so. We kinda folded. But overall I think we did a decent job. They're a very experienced team." - Unique McLean, Al Shorta

FIBA