ASTANA (Kazakhstan) - BC Astana took the scalp of no less than the reigning FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) champions following an 86-72 stunner of Al Riyadi at the Saryarka Velodrome, Wednesday night.
The home team caught fire from deep early in the final frame before needing to buck a late-game fightback toward completing the upset of a team that hasn't lost in the West Asia League Group Phase for a long time.
A check at the records showed that the Lebanese powerhouse came into the match riding a 15-game winning streak in the said stage dating back to the 2022-23 inaugurals, including their 2-0 start this season.
But all that is in the past now, as it ended at the hands of the same club that foiled their bid of taking home the bronze in the 2023 Final 8 in Dubai after bowing to a narrow 94-90 decision in the Third-Place Game.
This time, Astana spoiled Riyadi's attempt of joining the unbeaten Shahrdari Gorgan (3-0) on top of the 2025-26 WASL- West Asia League standings while they posted their second successive victory.
"We started with slow energy today. It was a very difficult game for us. But during the third quarter, we found our advantage," offered head coach Ramunas Crvika as they clearly owned the said period, 26-16.
Four players finished in double digits in the triumph, headed by Robert Pan with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Vadim Chsherbak and Alexandr Zhigulin made 13 points each while Eric Day delivered 11 points and 10 assists.
Pan, Chsherbak, and Day were responsible for their team's blazing start into the fourth quarter, in which the troika combined for a quartet of three-pointers to widen their lead to 72-56 with 7:24 remaining.
It even grew to its highest at 18 twice, the last of which was at 76-58 following Chsherbak's tough shot from close range with 5:11 to go - much of course to the delight of the 4,343-strong crowd that showed up.
However, it wasn't a smooth-sailing ride to the win as Riyadi tried to rally back into the match. They did impose a major threat as the huge gap got chopped to just seven points, 77-70, behind Maurice Kemp with 1:11 left.
But Astana simply wouldn't want the game to slip away from their hands. Jusikevicius added to their lead with a split, before Alexandr Zhigulin pushed their lead back to 10 at 80-70 with 29.9 seconds to spare.
Day and Pan would go on to apply the final touches to eventually deal the Yellow Castle their first loss in the West Asia League Group Phase since absorbing a 75-62 defeat to Gorgan in Iran back in January 18, 2023.
The win also snapped Astana's two-game losing skid against Al Riyadi. The latter owned their previous two encounters in the Final 8 in lopsided fashion, as they won by average margin of 33.5 points.
Kemp led the Sub-Zone League's four-peat seekers with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Ivan Buva provided 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Hayk Gyokchyan had 11. Perrin Buford added 10 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
Both teams now share similar 2-1 records following the result but Astana has the head-to-head advantage. They are now sitting at the second spot behind the Iranian Basketball League champions in the standings.
FIBA