BEIRUT: Hoops Club left themselves stranded in eighth place – two points behind seventh place – Saturday after losing at home to a sharp shooting Byblos team led by Desmond Pennigar. Hoops Club went down 91-82 in the disappointing defeat that almost certainly sees the Beirut side take the eighth seed in the upcoming Final Eight tournament.

Pennigar led all scorers with 34 points while Hussein al-Khatib and Ali Fakheridinne scored 23 each for Hoops Club.

Despite taking a 3-point lead into the final quarter at 62-59, Hoops Club’s defense collapsed allowing Byblos to score 60 percent of their shots, conceding 32 points in the final quarter to hand over the game.

Also Saturday, an inspired performance by Nate Johnson gave Sagesse all three points against Bejjeh Saturday. The American forward scored 34 points on 52 percent shooting to lead Sagesse to a 85-81 overtime win in Ghazir.

A tight game throughout, Bejjeh pulled back a seven-point deficit in the final quarter to force overtime but the Jbeil side were finally undone in the extra 5 minutes.

The game was more a fight between to two pairs of Americans rather than five pairs of players. Brandon Crump and Johnson led their team in rebounds, blocks, steals and assists and Bejjeh’s Arthur Lee and Harold Jamison would have done the same but for Patrick Bou Abboud’s joint team high of 14 rebounds and two blocks.

The game took a quarter to click into gear, as the first 10 minutes saw both teams miss a slew of shots – with Sagesse and Bejjeh hitting 29 and 36 percent of their shots respectively. Sagesse were the better passing team forcing Bejjeh’s defense to collapse on numerous occasions but they were unable to take the early initiative, finishing the first quarter at 11-11 with neither side registering a 3-point shot despite nine attempts.

In the second quarter, Sagesse found their shooting stroke. Passes made their targets and shots hit the bottom of the net as Sagesse finally streaked out into the lead. Despite a misfiring Sabah Khoury, Sagesse took a seven-point advantage into the halftime break with the scores at 35-28.

The two sides went toe-to-toe in the third quarter with Sagesse able to hold onto their seven-point lead despite handing over possession far too easily. The third quarter ended at 55-48 with Sagesse managing to score 70 percent of their shots in the third quarter. Lee led an unlucky come-back for Bejjeh in the final quarter, forcing overtime with the scores at 76-76 before Johnson brought the win for Sagesse.

On Sunday, Anibal Zahle picked up a big win away at Mouttahed Tripoli winning 85-74.