ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - Al Riyadi issued a strong statement to the rest of the field that they are bent on defending the throne, handing Amman United Club a 108-88 beatdown in a rousing 2024/2025 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) debut, Wednesday night at the Nouhad Nawfal Stadium.
The long-time Lebanese powerhouse wasted no time dictating the tempo, running to a 30-18 lead in the game's first 10 minutes to set up the rout to not only kick-start their three-peat bid in the West Asia League but also, of course, to commence their quest of repeating as champions of the pan-regional competition.
Also the reigning BCL Asia kings, the Yellow Castle will look to make it two in a row when they face the 2-0 Tabiat on Friday night in an encounter that should add more color to the storied Iran-Lebanon basketball rivalry.
Amman United, on the other hand, absorbed their first loss of the tournament after successfully opening their campaign with a 96-87 win over Al Difaa Al Jawi SC in the Sub-Zone League curtain-raiser Tuesday night.
Game heroes: Hayk Gyokchyan caught fire early and went on to finish with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, highlighted by a quartet of three-pointers that included a buzzer-beating heave from near half-court to end the first quarter. He also collected 9 rebounds and a pair of assists in the 27 minutes he played.
Karim Zeinoun came through with 19 points, 11 of which he made in the opening period as he and Gyokhcyan presided over their sprint toward the big lead. He also had 3 rebounds and 6 assists to his name.
Wael Arakji supplied 18 points and 8 assists in a performance that witnessed the inaugural BCL Asia MVP serve a nasty poster dunk on opposing big man Yousef Abuwazaneh in indeed a highlight-worthy play.
Reinforcements George King and Ily Diop chipped in 13 points apiece in the victory that saw Al Riyadi shoot a solid 53.4-percent from the field, big thanks to the 32 assists they dished as a collective.
Turning point: The team of Coach Ahmad Farran were actually up by only a point, 17-16, with under three minutes left in the opening frame but King and Zeinoun nailed a triple each one after the oither, and those shots sparked what would be a 13-2 run for the crew to finish the period owning a 12-point advantage.
Stats don't lie: Al Riyadi shot a total of 14 threes in the win, with Zeinoun and Gyokchyan combining for nine of it. But the squad did it on defense, too, as proven by the 11 steals they chalked up.
They said: "I want to give all the credit to my players. It's not easy. We are fighting minus one foreign player. Plus, after the window of the national team, we lost Karim Zeinoun and Amir Saoud. They couldn't play with injuries, and they came in without a practice to play. Ismail was also sick for a long time. But they showed up today and played, so I'm very happy and very proud of them." - Ahmad Farran, Head Coach, Al Riyadi
"It was a very nice way to start off WASL this year. It seems to be a very tough competition this year, the level of the teams have elevated. All teams are fighting for the three spots and it's a very quick tournament unlike the previous couple of versions, so we don't have any room for error. Everybody on the team today knew what was at stake. We stepped up ... hopefully we build on this." - Hayk Gyokchyan, Al Riyadi
"Riyadi is a really tough team, they're the champions twice. They have big chemistry among them as seen by their 32 assists. Our plan in defense wasn't good, so we need now to focus in our next two games." - Abdallah Abuqoura, Head Coach, Amman United Club
"We all know Al Riyadi is a very good team - in WASL and in the Lebanese league. So it wasn't going to be an easy game. We expected it to be a tough game. We didn't play our best game but hats off to Riyadi and the things they were able to accomplish in this game. They have great chemistry. It's hard to crack that. They've been together for so long. We got the next window, and we'll be better." - Jonathan Arledge, Amman United Club
FIBA