GHAZIR (Lebanon) - Ali Haidar turned in easily his finest performance of the 2025-26 FIBA WASL season to date to power Sagesse SC past Al Wahda SC, 105-92, at the Ghazir Club Stadium on Thursday night.
The 35-year-old bruiser submitted 34 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field alongside 10 rebounds, as he spearheaded their third-quarter pullaway to eventually bounce back from their loss to BC Astana.
But more than atoning for that heartbreaking 104-102 overtime defeat from last week, the Green Castle formalized the four-team Semi-Finals picture as they officially eliminated their Syrian counterparts from contention.
Also in are reigning champions and current leaders Al Riyadi (5-2), Astana (5-2), and Shahrdari Gorgan (3-3), with their final seedings to be determined in the remaining matches of the preliminary round.
"We're happy to be here now," said head coach Joe Ghattas, whose side improved to 3-4 following the dominant victory in a turnaround that has left him and the whole crew beaming after losing their first three outings.
"Now we have one more game against Gorgan, hopefully we can win this game and we might finish third. That would be good for the team after that slow start," the young bench tactician furthered.
Sagesse could indeed finish third in the standings and this position wouldn't have been possible had it not been for the assertiveness shown by one of their elder statesmen, which was evident especially in the second half.
Haidar poured 10 of his points in the aforementioned period, in which he and the Lebanese outfit finally got going on both ends after struggling to break free from their gritty foes during the first 24 minutes of play.
They only led by five at the break but the men's national team mainstay would go on to lead a 14-1 rally to inflate the cushion to 67-49 with 6:34 on the clock, and that was all they needed to set the tone for the rout.
"I can't play this way without my teammates passing me the ball," said Haidar, who deservingly earned Capelli Sport Player of the Game honors after a standout performance that saw him net an efficiency of 36.
"If somebody watches my basketball, I have the most boring game you'll ever see in your life. I'm not a highlight guy. My game is boring. So I wanna thank my teammates for trusting me today," he added.
Paris Bass was as solid yet again with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Young star Youssef Khayat delivered 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Walter Hodge came through with a personal double-double of 16 points and 13 assists.
"We had a lot of downs this [season]. Finally, we got some ups going," Haidar said. "The management, the coaches, the players deserve this. The fans deserve this. We deserve to be here. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes."
Al Wahda, on the other hand, were led by James Justice, Jr. with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Domagoj Proleta had 14 points while Yousef Abdullah, Falando Jones, and Nadim Issa added at least 11 apiece.
Coach Peter Aleksic & Co., which fell to 1-6, will look to finish their season strongly against Astana next Thursday also in Ghazir.
FIBA