ALEPPO (Syria) - Sagesse rolled past Al-Ittihad Ahli, 81-72, to get a win run going in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Season 2, Thursday night at the Al Hamadaniyeh Stadium.

Hardly bothered by the record 13,000-plus fans that backed the home team, the Lebanese crew jumped out to a big lead and stayed ahead en route to their second win in as many games to sit at solo second in Group A of the West Asia League with a 2-1 record.

The Syrian side, on the other hand, absorbed their second loss in a row and fell to 1-2.

Game heroes: Coming off a 39-point explosion in his league debut, Pierre Jackson showed the way once more for Sagesse with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Karim Ezzedine supplied 13 points and 5 rebounds. The veteran frontcourt tandem of Radhouane Slimane and Ahmad Ibrahim produced 11 points apiece, while Bassel Harfouch chimed in 11 points as five players scored in double figures in the victory.

STEP AHEAD Player of the Game: Jackson earned STEP AHEAD Player of the Game honors as the veteran internationalist finished with a game-best efficiency of 27.

Turning point: Al-Ittihad Ahli actually led early in the game until Ezzedine sparked a 16-3 scoring spree to turn the game around in their favor, 21-9, late in the first quarter. The team would even lead by as many as 23 points, 58-35, behind Ibrahim's triple during the third.

Still, the home team tried to rally and managed to get to within just eight points, 80-72, with 1:03 left to play, but it was too late of a comeback as Slimane shut the door.

Stats don't lie: Sagesse finished with 11 steals in the triumph, the third-most by a team in the current West Asia League season behind Gorgan (14) and Al Naft (13). Both the Iranian and Iraqi ball clubs did those agaiinst, coincidentally, Al-Ittihad Ahli as well.

They said: "The most important thing when you play away games is to get the win, and no injuries. This is what happened tonight. We won the first three quarters but they fought hard til the end. They came back. We have no problem, we came here to get the win. This was the target. We did it. I'm happy." - Jad El Hajj, Head Coach, Sagesse

"We adjusted at halftime. We did well in the second half. I'm happy. The spirit was good. We could've won this game had we committed less mistakes, less turnovers, and have gotten more defensive rebounds." - Safouane Ferjani, Head Coach, Al-Ittihad Ahli

FIBA