AALST, Belgium (Interstat) — Okapi Aalst defeated visiting Belfius Mons-Hainaut 83-69 on Saturday at Forum Aalst, improving to 4-1 this season while Mons-Hainaut fell to 0-5. Okapi’s Malik Thomas led all players with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. Kylian Mpete paced Mons-Hainaut with 19 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Younes Boukichou added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists and Abdoulaye Diarra had 14 points and seven rebounds. Nick Davidson contributed 13 points and seven rebounds for Okapi, Mattias Palinckx scored 10 points and Elias Lasisi added 11. Okapi shot 28 of 59 from the floor and 21 of 27 from the free-throw line, while Mons-Hainaut shot 26 of 60 overall and 11 of 29 from three-point range. Okapi scored 83 points from 77 possessions with an offensive rating of 108.0; Mons-Hainaut scored 69 from 72 possessions with an offensive rating of 95.7. Okapi committed 17 turnovers to Mons-Hainaut’s 12 and held a 12-7 offensive rebounding edge. Okapi’s nickname is Aalstar.