DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Shabab Al Ahli caught fire from downtown and torched Al Arabi SC, 107-88, to draw closer to the FIBA WASL-Gulf League Semi-Finals, Tuesday night at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall.
The defending Sub-Zone League champions knocked down a quintet of three-pointers in just the opening period alone, and the rim seemingly opened wide as they went on to finish with 17 in a shooting masterclass.
Coach Miodrag Perisic's charges in the process equalled the most triples by a team in a game this season, which was first set by Kuwait Club in their 115-81 win over Sharjah SC in the Group Phase back last November 18.
But they now own the record for highest three-point percentage in an outing as they shot 53.1-percent, eclipsing the previous mark made by Kazma (51.9-percent) in a 95-81 victory against Muharraq Club last October 20.
"It was over 50-percent, which was good - that was the strategy, because we did not have an inside game tonight," said the Serbian bench tactician, as the team missed the services of lead big man Qais Alshabebi.
Bryon Allen led the UAE League Basketball powerhouse with 22 points, as he triggered the 20-2 run that turned a narrow three-point deficit to a 49-34 lead late in the second frame, which set the tone for the rout.
But Omar Alameri proved to be their top marksman as the stretch big man finished with 21 points, all of which he earned from deep as he shot an excellent 7-for-9 from rainbow country in the 26 minutes he saw action.
Hamed Lateef made 19 points and 6 rebounds in his best game of the season to date. Deshawndre Washington, as usual, was all over the place as he came through with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists plus a steal.
Assane Boye fell just short of registering a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds as five players finished in double figures in the victory thanks to a concerted effort to share the ball, as proven by their 25 assists.
"We played together," offered Alameri, who like Lateef also submitted his finest performance of the season thus far. "We shared the ball for the whole 40 minutes. It was the key behind our success."
Shabab Al Ahli will look to close it out in Game 2 next Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.
Elmedin Kikanovic led Al Arabi with a game-high 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in the crushing loss. Ousmane Dieng made 15 points, while Dee Bost delivered 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Khaled Abdelbaset supplied 12 points and 7 assists as he and the others tried to pick up the slack on a night star guard Mosti Rashed got held to just 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor.
FIBA