US Monastir’s Jerome Randle was full of praise for Adonis Filer’s fighting display despite his side, REG, losing Monday night’s encounter to the Tunisian giants at Dakar Arena.

Randle was a star performer as his commanding 32 points helped the BAL defending champions overcome REG’s scare with an 84-79 victory that saw them book a ticket to the playoffs that will take place in Kigali in May.

The American point guard faced a tough battle with REG’s guard Filer and Cleveland Thomas Jr who put up impressive displays despite REG’s defeat.

Randle hugged Filer after the match and went on to lead the praise for the player, he said, he enjoyed playing against in a post-match interview

"Hats off to him,” he said of File before adding, "I mean, it's a lot of great players in this league and I'm happy I was able to win the battle.”

Commenting on Monastir’s hard-fought victory over REG, Randle admits that it cost the team much effort to win the encounter which, he said, means a lot for them as it helped them secure a ticket to the playoffs.

"We fought hard, I am not going to lie to you. I'm really tired; I'm fatigued,” he said.

"I'm so emotional right now because I put a lot into this,” he added.

Randle’s Monastir wind up their Sahara Conference campaign on Tuesday, March 21, with a game against home side AS Douanes at 9.30pm while Stade Malien take on ABC Fighters at 6pm Kigali Time.