DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Al Riyadi hardly broke a sweat in beating Zhejiang Guangsha, 102-66, to complete the BCL Asia 2025 Semi-Finals ensemble, Wednesday night at the Coca-Cola Arena.
The defending champions opened the game with a fiery 25-7 start and that was essentially all they needed to seize control the rest of the way, never to be bothered anymore even as they lost Wael Arakji.
The reigning tournament MVP suffered an apparent shoulder injury after bumping into opposing center Xu Zhonghao at the 8:36-mark of the second period, and then left the venue just before halftime.
But that hardly affected his team's focus in any way as the Yellow Castle continued the onslaught, with their second unit making the most out of their extended time as the opposition struggled to keep up.
Al Riyadi will now turn their attention to the Semi-Finals, where they're set to face a vengeful Shabab Al Ahli in a rematch of last year's BCL Asia Final and the FIBA WASL Final 8 2025 Semi-Finals as well.
"We know the team, they know us," said Coach Ahmad Farran. "They are a very good team. They changed two imports since WASL and they are playing at home. They have nothing to lose. It's 50-50."
"We have a limited rotation if Wael can't make it to play so I trust my players. They are fighting in a great way. They want to win. They want to go to the Final. So we will do our job, as always," the champion mentor added.
All players scored in the win, with a total of five finishing in double figures. Karim Zeinoun led the pack with 19 points and 5 rebounds, with Thon Maker notching a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Elmedin Kikanovic supplied 15 points. Hayk Gyokchyan produced 14 points, spiked by four triples, and 11 rebounds to submit his best game of the tilt while Marcus Georges-Hunt chipped in 14 points and 7 assists.
Al Riyadi finished with a total of 31 assists, easily the most in this BCL Asia.
"I'm proud of every single one of my teammates," said Gyokchyan. "Everyone gave positive energy. They're giving us a boost, they're contributing on both offense and defense. We're just lucky to have a deep bench."
Xu Junwei, on the other hand, had 22 points to lead the Lions, who bowed out of with a 0-3 record overall.
Barry Brown made 14 points and 5 assists, while James Nunnally added 13 for the CBA champions.
FIBA