Al Riyadi own Gorgan anew, advance to FIBA WASL Final

DOHA (Qatar) - Al Riyadi asserted their mastery of Shahrdary Gorgan, 97-81, to book their breakthrough appearance in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final, Friday night.

In front of their ever-supportive fans that trooped to the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, the reigning two-time West Asia League champions went off to a hot start and the game would never be in question the rest of the way, going on to book the first ticket to the Big Dance.

Now, they wait for the winner of the other Semi-Final bracket featuring Kuwait Club and Sagesse SC for their opponents in the winner-take-all title bout set on Saturday night.

Game heroes: A total of five players finished in double figures in the win, with Hayk Gyokchyan top-scoring with a game-high 18 points and 6 rebounds, with 2 assists and 2 steals.

Wael Arakji, unbothered by the ankle injury he suffered against Manama the last time out, had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists on the way to tallying an efficiency of 22.

Thon Maker had 15 points as well with 5 rebounds, as the former NBA forward finds himself returning to the FIBA WASL Final - and a chance to finish his story after settling for a runner-up finish with Kuwait Club behind Manama in the inaugural Final 8 in Dubai.

Jonathan Simmons and Ali Mansour had 11 points apiece as all but 2 players contributed at least 2 in the victory against the same club they beat in the two previous West Asia Finals.

Turning point: Al Riyadi actually gave up the first 4 points of the game, but that proved to be the only time they'd trail. Gradually they found their rhythm and went on a run - capped by an Arakji triple - toward a 20-8 lead with under four minutes left in the first quarter.

That marked the beginning of a lopsided affair in their favor. The team already had 61 points entering the halftime break, and would lead by as many as 27 points in the total domination.

Stats don't lie: Al Riyadi have now won six of their last eight meetings against Gorgan in FIBA WASL following the triumph, where they shot over 52-percent from the field - including 10 treys - thanks mainly to their 27 assists, which is the most in this year's Final 8.

They said: "This has been our goal from the beginning. But we still have one game. It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be very important for us after we failed to make the Final last year. We are a very good team ready to compete and win the championship. Other than this is a big failure for us. This is the pressure we live with." - Ahmad Farran, Head Coach, Al Riyadi

"I personally don't really care who we're playing against, you know. We're ready for both, whether it's Sagesse or Kuwait Club. Like Coach said, we don't care who we are about to face. We're just ready for either." - Wael Arakji, Al Riyadi

FIBA