ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - Al Ula Club completed the FIBA WASL Final 8 2026 Semi-Finals by sending Shahrdari Gorgan packing, 99-84, on Thursday evening at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex.
Elijah Stewart erupted for 44 points and 5 rebounds to lead the way, particularly in turning the game around in their favor late in the first which allowed the crew to garner enough momentum to eventually pull away.
It soon became a lopsided affair and the Arabian Leopards went on to cruise to the historic W, as the club became just the first from Saudi Arabia to go this far in the culminating tilt of the pan-regional competition.
They accomplished as much by securing a Top 2 finish in Group B with a 2-1 record, with their final standing for the next round to be determined after the clash between Sagesse SC (2-0) and the also-ran Al Arabi later.
"I'm proud of everything we've achieved since last season. Being the first Saudi team to appear in the [Semi-Finals] of WASL, this is something," said head coach Izzat Ismail, who joined the team last December.
Mitch Creek came through with 17 points and 7 rebounds. David Michineau notched a rare triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Ahmed Almukhtar added 12 as well behind a 4-of-6 clip from deep.
Creek and Michineau helped Stewart in erasing their Iranian counterparts' 5-point lead during the opening chapter through a 13-2 scoring spree - punctuated by a Stewart triple - to get ahead by period's end, 24-18.
Before the game started, we asked ourselves, 'Do we want to go back home tomorrow, or on Monday?' Everyone wanted to travel back on Monday.
Almukhtar and Mo Alsuwailem did their part in the ensuing frame to widen the spread to double digits, and Al Ula would keep that distance all the way to the end as Gorgan struggled to mount a serious comeback.
Creek would push their lead to 20 points for the first time in the game at 62-42 following a triple with 7:47 to go in the third. The gap, though, would actually grow to as big as 24 a couple of times in the same quarter.
"We were hungry today. It was a do-or-die game. If we win, we go to the Semis; we lose, we're out," Ismail said. "So before the game started, we asked ourselves, 'Do we want to go back home tomorrow, or on Monday?'"
"Everyone wanted to travel back on Monday," he added with a smile. "So, we put all of our effort, we put all of our energy into this game, and we did it. The players did a great job, and I'm proud of all of them."
Jordan Stevens had 22 points albeit on 22 shots to lead Gorgan, who won't advance to the Final 8 Semi-Finals for the second time in three appearances thus far. They last qualified in 2024, eventually winning bronze.
D'Angelo Harrison supplied 17 points and 8 rebounds plus 3 assists, while Navid Rezaeifar added 13 points as the trio were the only players in double figures for the team of Coach Mehran Hatami in the tough defeat.
"We lost the game, but the result didn't show the level of the players. My team is way better than what they did today. But our opponent played better. We deserved to lose," the former Iran men's team mentor said.
FIBA