DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Shabab Al Ahli moved a step closer from realizing their dream of reaching the Big Dance following a 104-91 Game 1 victory over an old tormentor in Manama in the 2024/2025 FIBA WASL-Gulf League Semi-Finals, Monday night at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall.
The champions from Dubai took control of the game as early as the first quarter and led by as many as 20 points, and that cushion proved to be good enough to hold off a comeback attempt by the Bahraini powerhouse on the way to moving a win way from a breakthrough Finals appearance in the pan-regional tilt.
Shabab Al Ahli have only gotten as far as the Semi-Finals back in the 2022/2023 inaugurals and they didn't stand a chance back then after being swept by eventual champions Kuwait Club in the best-of-3 affair.
Now, they have given themselves an opportunity to rewrite their story should they complete their own sweep in Game 2 next Monday on their foes' own stomping grounds at the BBA Arena in Manama.
Game heroes: Deshawndre Washington starred in the victory with a rare triple-double as the do-it-wall winger finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists on his way to netting an efficiency of 34.
Lead big man Qais Alshabebi came through with 19 points and 6 rebounds for easily his best scoring performance of the season. New guy Jamelle Hagins turned in a solid debut with 19 points to his name as well.
Chris Crawford supplied 18 points as the American guard made it a triumphant return personally in WASL after previously playing for Beirut Club in the inaugural Final 8 in 2023 - held in the very same venue.
Turning point: And the reinforcements themselves were the ones which Shabab Al Ahli leaned on in the midst of the visiting side's rally in the closing minutes, particularly Hagins and his solid presence within the paint.
As Manama knocked to within eight, the home team managed to get a stop and caught the defense sleeping as Saeed Alajmani threw a lob to wide-open Hagins for a two-handed slam to make it a 10-point gap again.
That would actually just be the first of two bad possessions from Coach Linos Gavriel's wards which the other team turned into gold. After Hassan Nowrooz air-balled a trey, Washington hauled down the board and eventually dished it to a streaking Hagins, who then rose up for a one-handed jam to make it a 96-84 lead with 3:45 left.
That effectively restored order for Shabab Al Ahli and went on to register the 13-point win to also score some payback against the same team that beat them twice in the Group Phase last season.
Stats don't lie: The victors shot 54.8-percent from the floor and such an impressive shooting night could be attributed to the way they shared the ball as seen by their 28 assists - 11 more than Manama's.
They said: "In general, the team was working and this team showed today that it's really good. Especially because for us, it's a very tough game, we have a very serious opponent who won WASL two years ago. I respect this club so much - I worked with the club a few years ago. So we had a serious opponent and we headed into the game with a new foreigner who just arrived a few days ago, and our last official game was 20th of January. So 50-plus days without a game, and 40 days without practices, I'm so proud of these guys and how they reacted tonight." - Miodrag Perisic, Head Coach, Shabab Al Ahli
"For us, definitely what hurt us was our concentration on the defensive end. In the first half, it's unacceptable to give up 60 points especially our team, the way we've been working and defending in the last four seasons being in several years first in local and international competitions on defense, having 60 points in the first half is unacceptable. And that was the main reason we lost the game. But I have to give to the guys for the second half. They tried to bounce back by defending and following the game plan despite the adjustments. We showed big heart and tried to get back in the game but it was too late.." - Linos Gavriel, Head Coach, Manama
FIBA