ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - Al Riyadi found their extra gear in overtime and left behind the erstwhile unbeaten Tabiat Basketball, 110-100, to go 2-0 in the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-West Asia League, Friday night.
Hayk Gyokchyan and George King converted a triple each for the 96-92 lead with 3:33 to go in extension and those hits swung momentum in their favor for good as the Yellow Castle averted disaster after losing a four-point lead with 64 seconds remaining in regulation en route to staying perfect in the tournament thus far.
Now they will turn their focus on easily the most awaited duel of the tilt as the crew takes on long-time rivals Sagesse Saturday night in a rematch of last season's WASL Final 8 championship bout.
Game heroes: King powered Al Riyadi with 33 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and 7 rebounds, making his presence felt as early as the first half that saw him score 19 of his output.
He actually took matters in his own hands late in the fourth, too, scoring their last nine points in an attempt to tow his side only for Perry Petty to deny his plans by completing a rare four-point play off a foul against him with 46.5 seconds left, eventually leading to an extra time after misses by Wael Arakji and Stedmon Lemon.
But King more than made up for it come OT when he played a major role in their 20-10 closeout, much of course to the delight of their fans trooped to the Nouhad Nawfal Stadium to watch and support up close.
Arakji was as crucial, finishing with 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists. Gyokchyan provided 14 points alongside 4 rebounds and 3 assists while Karim Zeinoun chipped in 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Turning point: Arakji and Zeinoun were indeed important during the extra five minutes as the long-time teammates helped put the game away to make sure that the efforts of Gyokchyan and King won't go for naught.
Even though Sina Vahedi cut the gap to four with under three minutes to go, Al Riyadi were already too in-rhythm to be contained at that point especially when 'KZ' drained a triple and the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup MVP followed it up with a layup off the break, stringing together five straight points to make it a 103-94 spread with 1:43 to spare.
It was, at that time, a 13-2 run by the crew already but they refused to relax, with Arakji perfecting his trip to the line before completing a three-point play to put it out of reach, 108-96, with 1:01 left to play.
They said: "I told the guys, this is the toughest game we faced since the start of the season. We didn't play our usual game tonight, we didn't execute our team game, we had some individual highlights especially George and Wael Arakji, they did a great job today getting us back into the game. We committed a lot of mistakes. I can take this win, but I believe to win this way, it's always good when you are struggling. At the end it's a win, and tomorrow is another day." - Ahmad Farran, Head Coach, Al Riyadi
"Kudos to the opposing team. I thought they did a good job of playing well. They really challenged us. Like Coach was just alluding to it, it's a luxury to have guys who can have individual performances but to my knowledge, this is a team, this is a 5-on-5 game and this particular team does that at a high level. I look forward to tomorrow's game, whatever it will bring, and our collective effort." - George King, Al Riyadi
"It was a tough game ... we had a chance near the end of regulation, but maybe we should have made a better decision. But in overtime they managed the game better than us. Each possession, they made the best decision, and they won." - Mehran Shahintab, Head Coach, Tabiat Basketball
"The last possession, I had the ball in my hands to take a shot, so I'm kinda disappointed in not being able to finish the game for my team. But we came out against a great team in their home, and I think we fought together. That's all I can ask for. Another game in 17 hours so short-term memory, try to be ready to get the W tomorrow." - Stedmon Lemon, Tabiat Basketball
FIBA