Sosa stars anew, lifts Al Naft to big win over Al Riyadi at home
BAGHDAD (Iraq) - Al Naft received another outstanding performance from Edgar Sosa as they dealt the visiting Al Riyadi a harsh 100-87 beatdown to remain perfect in WASL - West Asia, Wednesday night at the Al Shaeb Hall in Baghdad.
The league's leading scorer fired a game-high 35 points, 20 of which he made in the first half as he presided over the home team's 33-point explosion in the second quarter that set the tone for yet another dominant victory in their books.
Carrying over that touch he had in that 36-point outing in the win versus Alkaramah, Sosa shot 56-percent from the floor and dished out 7 assists.
Al Naft, more importantly, have now taken sole leadership of Group B with a clean 2-0 late by foiling the Lebanese ball club, who were looking to follow up their 81-74 victory over Gorgan at home last week.
Edgar Sosa (@Edgarsosa10) won a title with Al Riyadi back in 2017. Five years later, he and the club are on opposing sides in the @OfficialWASL.
— FIBA Asia Champions Cup (@FIBAAsiaCC) December 28, 2022
Time flies. 🕰️
READ MORE 👉 https://t.co/smraEheeto#FIBAAsiaCC x #FIBAWASL pic.twitter.com/10jOi3WHGm
Game heroes: Sosa, did attract much of the attention once more but the well-travelled hooper actually received commendable support in the win.
Antwaine Wiggins was as important as he finished with a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds, together with 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Karrar Hamzah contributed 19 points, 4 boards, and 4 dimes, while Hayder Aldiwani and Abbas Al-Draisawi chipped in 9 points apiece.
Altogether they wasted the balanced attack of Al Riyadi, led by Amir Saoud and Wael Arakji as the two finished with 23 and 17 points, respectively.
Turning point: Al Naft held a slim33-29 lead with under 6 minutes to go in the second period until Sosa made both of his free throws to stretch the lead to six.
But those would prove to be the kick-starter to 14-3 rally on the way to a 47-32 lead with 3:43 to go in the said period, and they would never let up since.
Their lead would rise to as high as 76-56, behind the Sosa-Wiggins connections approaching the end of the third quarter.
Stats don't lie: Al Naft shot 53-percent as a whole big thanks to their 18 assists. They also scored 30 points off the 16 turnovers of Al Riyadi, and, lastly, capitalized on their transition opportunities by scoring 27 off the break.
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