ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - Shahrdari Gorgan notched their first win in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final 8 2026 by keeping Al Arabi SC listless, 85-76, on Tuesday at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex.
Navid Rezaeifar and Jordan Stevens took turns in sparking the Iranian contenders' fourth-quarter pullaway en route to breaking through in Group B, and more importantly reviving their Semi-Finals aspirations.
The 2024 bronze medalists improved to 1-1 after losing steam against Sagesse SC in their debut, and will try to strengthen their bid when they take on Al Ula Club (1-0) on Thursday, October 1, at 17:45 local time.
"My players fight as one," said Coach Mehran Hatami when asked about his wards' confidence entering the crucial bout. "As you saw, our team was not dependent on one individual. We played as a team, and we won."
Gorgan did rely on collective effort to enter the win column, with Rezaeifar himself top-scoring for the WASL-West Asia League competitors with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field alongside 7 rebounds.
Returning big man Sajjad Pazirofteh was solid as well with a strong double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds, netting himself an efficiency of 28 en route to earning Capelli Sport Player of the Game honors.
It was Pazirofteh who put themselves ahead for good late in the third quarter, scoring off the break to untie the 48-all knot. Rezaeifar would follow it up with a layup of his own to widen the spread to 52-48.
Rezaeifar then joined hands with Stevens in putting together a 12-4 attack in the fourth to erect a 71-60 lead with 4:55 to go, and the floodgates would open not long after as the opposition lost steam once more.
Back-to-back triples by D'Angelo Harrison pushed their lead to its biggest at 17, 79-62, with 3:21 remaining, and that proved to be enough for Gorgan to put what was a tightly contested match early in the wraps.
Stevens finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Harrison chipped in 12 also as the reinforcements did not need to do the heavy lifting this time around, with the locals gamely stepping up to the plate this time.
"In the previous game, we hustled a lot. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough practice together as a team. We were not lucky, especially in the last moments of the game. Now, we're past these two games," Rezaeifar said.
"Now, we can think about the next game," continued the Iran national team veteran, stressing the importance of their awaited clash versus Al Ula. "We are thinking about the next game, which is very important for us."
Mosti Rashed, on the other hand, had a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead the Red Devils, who fell to 0-2 and are now in a precarious position as far as their Semi-Finals chances are concerned.
Sindou Diallo had 20 points. Abdulrahman Saad made 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Elmedin Kikanovic added 13 points and 12 rebounds as they fought better this time but still fell short in the end.
Al Arabi will try to keep their chances, albeit slim, alive when they face Sagesse on Thursday as well, in the final game of the Group Phase.
FIBA