GHAZIR (Lebanon) - Eric Day shone the brightest in the endgame to lift BC Astana past Sagesse SC in overtime, 104-102, and post their fifth win in a row in the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-West Asia League, Wednesday night.
The crafty guard finished with 38 big points, none bigger than the elbow jumper he knocked down against the outstretched arms of the much bigger Yoyo Khayat for the lead with only 2.5 seconds remaining.
Khayat could only throw a halfcourt heave in a desperate attempt to steal the game since they no longer had any timeout and missed, leaving the partisan home crowd that filled the Ghazir Club Stadium in utter shock.
And then there were the visitors from Kazakhstan, which erupted in jubilation following a dramatic turnaround from finding themselves trailing by eight points late in regulation to eventually rise atop the standings.
They improved to 5-1 following the hard-earned victory, in the process snatching the provisional lead from Al Riyadi after repeating against the same team it previously beat at home by way of a 71-62 decision last November.
"We knew that this game was gonna be tough with this whole environment; they're a very good team, so we knew it was gonna be tough that it was gonna come down to the wire," said Day, who also had 9 assists.
"But if we stick to the game plan, we're gonna get it done," added the American playmaker.
Adas Juskevicius also came up big in the triumph, firing 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists as he helped keep Astana stay in step in OT and even gave themselves the 102-99 lead with 24.4 seconds to go.
Walter Hodge did manage to negate that, though, with a booming trifecta from the wing - and against Juskevicius, too - to tie things up at 102-all with 9.9 to spare, but that only paved the way for Day and his moment.
"A good game for him," lauded head coach Ramunas Cvirka of Day. "He has good character, he's a fighter."
Ruslan Aitkali supplied 13 points and 5 rebounds while Askar Maydekin chipped in 11 points and 7 rebounds for Astana, who hit 19 threes to reset the record for most triples made by a team in a game this season.
Thirteen of that came from Day and Juskevicius as the whole squad eclipsed the previous mark of 18, which they themselves tallied in an 88-64 dismantling of the listless Al Wahda SC just last December 18 at home.
Hodge, on the other hand, finished with 31 points and 9 assists to lead Sagesse in the heartbreaking loss, which foiled their bid of winning a third straight outing. Paris Bass backed him up with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Murphy had 20 points, including the split that pushed their lead to 85-77 with 4:21 left in the fourth before Astana went on a 15-7 rally - capped by a Day trifecta - to eventually send the game into extra time.
Gerard Hadidian made 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Khayat chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Green Castle, who remained at fourth in the standings - and behind the 3-2 Gorgan - after dropping to 2-4.
FIBA