BEIRUT: Mouttahed Tripoli were undone in an 74-71 defeat to Iranian side Zobahan in Game 1 of the WABA League quarterfinals Tuesday. The defeat leaves Mouttahed now in need of a win in Iran when the two sides meet again in two weeks to avoid being knocked out.

Mouttahed were their own worst enemies as they let former Riyadi star Loren Woods eat offensive rebounds, with the American scoring all of Zobahan’s key baskets down the stretch.

Poorly played minutes at the start and finish of the first half cost Mouttahed dearly. The two three-minute periods that bookended the first half saw Zobahan cumulatively score 15-4, undoing all of the good work Mouttahed had done during the other 14 minutes.

The home side allowed themselves to become predictable and once again relied too heavily on 3-point shooting as well as rebounding poorly. Added to that, Bassam Bala’a put in an ineffective performance, more noted for his stray rebound in the last second of the half that he threw straight into the hands of Loren Woods, who threw the ball down to give Zobahan a 40-31 half time lead.

Mouttahed took four minutes to register their first basket through Bassel Bawji, already behind 7-2.

Woods scored again for Zobahan before Mouttahed broke out into an 11-2 run. The home side poured in three 3-pointers in quick succession from new signing Micah Brand, Bawji and Austin Johnson.

Five quick points from Brand and a Johnson lay-up just before buzzer gave Mouttahed a surprise 21-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Mouttahed’s failings began to show through. The 3-pointers began to rim out and, on the defensive end, the home side simply refused to box out their man, allowing Zobahan to gobble up easy rebounds which were usually immediately converted into points. Rebounds that were earned were almost lost out of bounds as players shambollicaly wrestled with one another to claim the board.

Mouttahed’s tactic of constantly driving and kicking out the ball to a 3-point shooter who would then drive to the hoop and either lay the ball up or kick the ball back out to the 3-point line became easy fodder for Zobahan. The Iranian side dominated inside with Woods patrolling the paint before clawing their way back into the league with a sequence of 3-pointers.

Mouttahed’s interior defense disintegrated completely allowing Zobahan to take a 40-31 halftime lead.

The third quarter brought on a much more combative Mouttahed side. Samir Meshref – who was the home side’s only source of originality in the second quarter – was injected into the team and made an immediate impact, dragging Mouttahed to within three points at 47-44.

Bawji made his presence felt with some nice runners and floaters but the home side simply couldn’t contain Woods who scored at will to keep Zobahan ahead, going into the final quarter at 55-51.

The fourth quarter saw Mouttahed regain the lead at 66-65 thanks to two 3-pointers from Johnson before Woods bullied Zobahan to victory.