GHAZIR (Lebanon) - Al Wahda SC finally got it together and nabbed their first win in the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-West Asia League by sending Shahrdari Gorgan skidding, 101-92, Friday night at the Ghazir Club Stadium.
The Syrian Basketball League outfit turned things around in the second chapter before putting on a strong finish on the way to barging into the win column after losing their first five outings of the season.
And they did so at the expense of a team which they were supposed to face last November in Tehran, Iran but circumstances beyond basketball ultimately prompted league officials to cancel the meeting.
Now, they're keen on sweeping their two remaining assignments versus Sagesse SC and current 2-seed BC Astana, in that order, in an attempt to stay alive in the race to the Semi-Finals which starts next month.
"This win is really huge, especially for a team from Syria," said head coach Petar Aleksic. "They are a very proud team who's always looking to win. Now we are bringing the spirit back, and we are all happy."
The Damascene Orange received a huge lift from new guy Domagoj Proleta, who shone in his WASL debut with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals en route to bagging home Capelli Sport Player of the Game honors.
The Croatian forward scored 11 of his points in the second period, nearly matching the opposing team's output by his lonesome as he spearheaded the 28-15 reversal for a 54-48 lead entering the halftime intermission.
Gorgan did retake the lead early in the ensuing frame but that proved to be brief as Al Wahda responded back, with Proleta helping out Falando Jones to give themselves the 76-67 advantage just before the third ended.
The crew would be in control for good since, with James Justice, Jr. and the others delivering crucial shots in the closing minutes to make sure that they would leave Ghazir with the win in the bag this time.
"I just wanted to help the team. I don't look at individual stats, I just try to win," said Proleta.
Jones finished with 23 points, while Justice had 23 points for Al Wahda as the new troika carried much of the load although those like Bilal Atli, Yousef Abdullah, and CJ Maran made significant contributions as well.
Piter Girgoorian had 25 points for Gorgan, who fell short in bouncing back from last week's defeat to BC Astana in Kazakhstan and fell to their second loss in a row. They dropped to 3-3 but remained at third in the standings.
Amirhossein Yazarloo supplied 20 points, while Jordan Hamilton added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the two-time WASL-West Asia League runners-up.
FIBA