ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - Sagesse SC refused to relax and made sure to conclude their FIBA WASL Final 8 2026 Group Phase campaign on a triumphant note by turning back Al Arabi SC, 90-85, on Thursday night.
The Green Castle could have relaxed since they're already bound for the Semi-Finals, but still made it a point to continue their winning ways behind a big fourth-quarter attack to complete the Group B sweep.
"We're building the team game by game," said Coach Joe Ghattas. "We're trying to fix our mistakes ... we're trying to get better every single night."
Youssef Khayat led the Lebanese contenders anew with 24 points and 6 rebounds, with Ali Mezher backing him up with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in his best game yet since returning to the ball club.
These two were responsible for turning the game around in their favor, knocking down a triple each - and in successive fashion - to turn a one-point deficit to a 69-64 lead with 7:35 to go in the deciding chapter.
Karim Ezzedine would join in the fray not long after before Ali hit another one from beyond the arc, and their scoring run went on to extend to a 13-2 rally, which also widened the spread to 74-66 with 6:21 to go.
The lead would spread to 13 points twice inside the final 3:42 of the game, and that cushion proved to be more than enough to ward off the hungry Red Devils' attempt at putting together one last comeback.
Deshawndre Washington notched a triple-double of 12 points, 14 rebounds, and 17 assists. Jamal Jones also finished with 12, while Ezzedine added 11 and 8 as plenty stepped up in the absence of AJ English.
Now, Sagesse will shift all their focus to the Semi-Finals on Saturday, where they will be facing Kuwait Club in another meeting between the two, having met in the same stage back in 2024 in Doha, Qatar.
The Green Castle won that bout narrowly, 76-72, to arrange a championship showdown with Al Riyadi. They eventually settled for a runner-up finish as they bowed to their age-old rivals in overtime, 100-90.
"We have faced Kuwait before but with different foreigners, and a different squad. Now, it's going to be a different game - every game is different," offered Ezzedine, who was part of that 2024 Sagesse team.
Mustafa Rashed led Al Arabi with 24 points and 6 rebounds as they finished their maiden Final 8 campaign winless in 3 games. Elmedin Kikanovic made 19 points and 14 rebounds while Sindou Diallo added 14.
Khaled Abdelbaset supplied 13 points off the bench, while Abdulrahman Saad added an 11-5-5 stat line for the Qatari champions.
FIBA