BAWSHAR (Oman) - Shabab Al Ahli coasted to a 96-56 victory over a short-handed Al Bashaer to return to their winning ways in the 2024/2025 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) on Tuesday night at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
The perennial contenders zoomed to an early lead against their fellow league pioneers and never looked back on the way to redeeming themselves after absorbing a narrow 75-71 defeat at the hands of Kuwait Club last December 2 in Dubai.
Game heroes: The champions from UAE leaned on a balanced attack that saw a total of five players finish in double figures, spearheaded by Deshawndre Washington with 20 points alongside 12 rebounds and 7 assists for an efficiency of 34.
Omar Alameri, now in his second game back from an ankle injury, shot 6-of-8 from the floor - including a 4-of-6 clip from deep - for 16 points, showing he's all healthy.
Sir'Dom Pointer supplied 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, while Assane Boye and Qais Omar Alshabebi added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Turning point: Al Bashaer actually scored the first point of the game behind a split by Slaven Cupkovic but that proved to be the only time they'd taste the lead.
Alshabebi scored just shortly after that and Shabab Al Ahli would zoom to a 20-5 lead, setting the tone for the rout that led to the 40-point victory.
Stats don't lie: Shabab Al Ahli shot nearly 54-percent from the floor behind 26 assists on the way to improving their standing to 3-1, thus maintaining their hold of the no. 2 spot behind the 4-0 Kuwait Club in Group A of the Gulf League.
They've also extended their mastery of the Omani club to four games now in a streak that dates back to the 2022/2023 inaugurals of the pan-regional contest.
They said: "It's very important. Because winning carries over. So coming into the new year with a win helps us build our confidence, and we know that we can keep going and we can keep getting better and keep believing in ourselves." - Deshawndre Washington, Shabab Al Ahli
"It was a pretty tough game for us. We played against a strong opponent, an experienced team. I know it's not an excuse but we missed a lot of players in practice. We have big problems due to injuries. But we tried." - Slaven Cupkovic, Al Bashaer
FIBA