DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Deshawndre Washington took the spotlight anew after registering yet another triple-double to power Shabab Al Ahli to their first win of the new FIBA WASL season on Monday night.
The do-it-all winger finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists as he came up big especially in the deciding chapter to lead the reigning Gulf League champions to an 89-87 decision over Muharraq Club.
"I'm just happy to get a win in WASL," he said after the match at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall. "Of course everybody's gonna be happy that you played well, but I'm just happy for the team's victory."
However, the W actually left a lot to be desired for him and Shabab Al Ahli.
It's important because we want to defend our championship. We want to go back-to-back.
What the crew didn't like in particular was the way they finished the game. The long-time UAE powerhouse already built an 87-77 lead behind Dikembe Dixson entering the final three minutes, but nearly blew it up.
With the troika of Kerwin Roach, Daniel Hamilton, and Mohammed Juma linking up, their Bahraini counterparts answered back with a 10-2 assault to cut the deficit to just a field goal with 1:23 remaining.
Fortunately for the home team, the Red Wolves lost steam and struggled to find their extra gear to snatch the game away, with Roach missing the potential go-ahead trey and Juma failing to clean it up as time expired.
Shabab Al Ahli head coach Miodrag Perisic couldn't help but be critical - and rightfully so - of how they handled the endgame, for he felt that their days-long preparation for this very game almost went for naught.
"I think we prepared really well for this game," he said. "We know everything about them, and this is the reason why I'm disappointed - not because we won two points. That's not important."
"I'm disappointed because we came into a situation where we almost lost the game. And this is something that should never happen," the usually straightforward Serbian bench tactician furthered.
Washington, for his part, acknowledged the need to take care of the ball much better moving ahead into the season after the team committed a total of 20 turnovers - seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
And that seventh TO could've become the toughest to fathom as it enabled Muharraq to take the final possession, although they dodged a bullet when Roach, as mentioned, couldn't capitalize and missed his triple.
"We just need to cut back on the turnovers, myself included," admitted the 24-year-old reinforcement, who committed three turnovers himself. "And just finish games by paying more attention to detail."
Nonetheless, a win is a win as they say, and Washington was glad that he and Shabab Al Ahli were able to put their title defense bid on the right track after bowing to Ittihad Club in the 2025-26 WASL opener.
"It's important because we want to defend our championship. We want to go back-to-back," he said. "So we're gonna have to come back, try to be better than we were last year, be more of a team so we can repeat."
"It's always the goal, to win a championship. So, that's our goal again for this season and hopefully we get back to it," he added.
FIBA