GHAZIR (Lebanon) - Shahrdari Gorgan hardly showed any panic and went on to own Sagesse SC once more, 97-92, in the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-West Asia League opener, Wednesday night at the Ghazir Club Stadium.
The Iranian champions lost the 75-68 lead they built early in the final frame and found themselves down 81-84 with 3:36 to go, but plenty stepped up and made sure that no collapse would take place whatsoever.
Mobin Sheikhi knocked down a booming trey to put themselves ahead for good, before Amirhossein Yazarloo came through with key free throws to cap an 8-0 run toward an 89-84 advantage with 1:41 remaining.
The home team did get to within a possession twice, the last of which at 95-92 after Yoyo Khayat's trifecta, but Jordan Hamilton was there to ice the game with a perfect trip to the line with 6.3 seconds left to play.
"This was our first game, so it's important for us to start the competition with a great win at Sagesse's homecourt," offered head coach Saleh Makhdoomi, proud as well of the fight his wards showed especially in the end.
Hamilton top-scored for Gorgan with 19 points, alongside 6 rebounds and 7 assists as he helped extend the club's mastery of the Green Castle to three games now - a streak that dates back to the 2023-24 WASL season.
Yazarloo finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while his brother Nosrstollah supplied 16 points off the bench. Sheikhi chipped in 13 points and 6 assists plus 2 steals in the character-testing victory.
Now 1-0 in Group A, the two-time WASL-West Asia runners-up will look to make it back-to-back wins when they take on a familiar foe in BC Astana on November 13, Thursday, at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran.
The trio of Khayat, Paris Bass, and league veteran Tony Carr, on the other hand, made 20 points apiece to lead Sagesse. Erick Green was the other double-digit scorer with 11 points in the defeat.
Coach Joe Ghattas will now turn their attention to Al Riyadi, which they will face next Wednesday, November 12, at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut in an early rematch of the epic 2024 WASL Final.
FIBA