Superleague Round 5: Chemidor edge Sirjan by three points

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Second-ranked Sirjan (11-6) made lots of trouble for first ranked Chemidor (15-2) in Tehran on Friday. Chemidor managed to secure only three-point victory 63-60. However their fans expected easier game. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Sirjan. Chemidor forced 23 Sirjan turnovers and outrebounded them 45-33 including a 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was Nigerian power forward Alade Aminu (207-87, college: Georgia Tech) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 15 rebounds. The former international center Mohammad Yousofvand (207-96, agency: BIG) chipped in 2 points and 12 rebounds. Chemidor's coach Mehran Shahintab used a ten-player rotation in such tough game. Amir Taherkhani produced 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for the guests. Chemidor have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain first place with 15-2 record, which they share with Gorgan. Newly promoted Sirjan keeps the second position with six games lost. They share it with Rafsanjan. Chemidor's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Tehran to the arena Niroo Zamini.
Very important is a road loss of third ranked Kouchin (8-9) against fourth ranked Exxon SC (4-13) on Thursday night. Visiting Kouchin was defeated by Exxon SC in Teheran 81-67. Guard Behshad Arabzadeh (195-0) orchestrated the victory by scoring 17 points and 7 assists. Amirhossein Rezaeifar contributed with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the winners. American point guard Mike McCall (183-91, college: St.Louis) answered with 19 points and 7 rebounds for Kouchin. Exxon SC maintains fourth place with 4-13 record. Kouchin at the other side keeps the third position with nine games lost. Exxon SC will play against league's leader Gorgan at home in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kouchin will play against the league's second-placed Rafsanjan and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Gorgan. First ranked Gorgan faced second-ranked Rafsanjan. Host Gorgan (15-2) defeated guests from Rafsanjan (11-6) 78-69. Mohammad Jamshidi stepped up and scored 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Gorgan's coach Mehran Hatami allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Alani Moore II responded with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Gorgan have a solid series of four victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 15-2 record, which they share with Chemidor. Loser Rafsanjan keeps the second position with six games lost. They share it with Sirjan. Gorgan will meet Exxon SC (#4) in the next round. Rafsanjan will play against Kouchin in Amol and it may be a tough game between close rivals.

In the last game of round 5 Raad defeated Niroo Zamini in Mashhad 74-67.

Exxon SC - Kouchin 81-67

Very important is a road loss of third ranked Kouchin (8-9) against fourth ranked Exxon SC (4-13) on Thursday night. Visiting Kouchin was defeated by Exxon SC in Teheran 81-67. Exxon SC players were unselfish on offense dishing 24 assists comparing to just 10 passes made by Kouchin's players. Guard Behshad Arabzadeh (195-0) orchestrated the victory by scoring 17 points and 7 assists. Forward Amirhossein Rezaeifar (196-0) contributed with a double-double by scoring 12 points and 12 rebounds for the winners. Four Exxon SC players scored in double figures. American point guard Mike McCall (183-91, college: St.Louis) answered with 19 points and 7 rebounds and Serbian center Darko Balaban (211-89) added 13 points and 7 rebounds in the effort for Kouchin. Exxon SC maintains fourth place with 4-13 record. Kouchin at the other side keeps the third position with nine games lost. Exxon SC will play against league's leader Gorgan at home in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kouchin will play against the league's second-placed Rafsanjan and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Kouchin: M.McCall 19+7reb+2ast, D.Balaban 13+7reb+2ast, A.Matin 12+8reb+2ast, Y.Amirhossein 9+5reb+3ast, L.Mohammadmahdi 9+1reb+1ast, J.Behnam 3+2reb
Exxon SC: K.Ali 18+2reb+5ast, A.Behshad 17+4reb+7ast, M.Reza 14+9reb+2ast, A.Rezaeifar 12+12reb+3ast, H.Pooya 9+6reb+3ast, M.Hoseinpour 5+1reb+2ast

Gorgan - Rafsanjan 78-69

An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Gorgan. First ranked Gorgan faced second-ranked Rafsanjan. Host Gorgan (15-2) defeated guests from Rafsanjan (11-6) 78-69. Gorgan dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Rafsanjan's 24. They outrebounded Rafsanjan 46-29 including a 36-25 advantage in defensive rebounds. International Mohammad Jamshidi (199-91, agency: BIG) stepped up and scored 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners and the former international center Meisam Mirzaei (210-92) chipped in 14 points and 15 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field). Five Gorgan players scored in double figures. Gorgan's coach Mehran Hatami allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American point guard Alani Moore II (178-98, college: Temple) responded with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists and British Robert Gilchrist (206-90, college: FSU) scored 14 points and 8 rebounds. Gorgan have a solid series of four victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 15-2 record, which they share with Chemidor. Loser Rafsanjan keeps the second position with six games lost. They share it with Sirjan. Gorgan will meet Exxon SC (#4) in the next round. Rafsanjan will play against Kouchin in Amol and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Rafsanjan: A.Moore II 24+5reb+4ast, R.Majid 15+2reb+3ast, R.Gilchrist 14+8reb+1ast, H.Mohamad 8+2reb+1ast, S.Yaghoub 3+1reb+1ast, M.Khaleghifard 3+6reb
Gorgan: M.Jamshidi 19+8reb+5ast, M.Mirzaei 14+15reb, P.Petty 14+8reb+5ast, K.Yasin 12+7reb, R.Mozafari 11+2reb+3ast, S.Pazrofteh 4+4reb+1ast

Niroo Zamini - Raad 67-74

The game between closely ranked teams ended with 4th placed Niroo Zamini's (0-17) home loss to third ranked Raad (5-12) 67-74 on Friday. Raad made 19-of-25 free shots (76.0 percent) during the game. Power forward Ali Rineh (202-97) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists (was perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line) for the winners and Eshagh Hatamifar chipped in 16 points and 5 rebounds. Four Raad players scored in double figures. Guard Pouya Yakhchali (-96) responded with 27 points and 5 rebounds and Khashayar Ali-Akbari scored 12 points and 6 rebounds. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Raad maintains third place with 5-12 record having seven points less than leader Gorgan. Loser Niroo Zamini still closes the standings with 17 games lost. Raad will meet at home league's second-placed Sirjan in the next round and it will be for sure the game of the week. Niroo Zamini's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Tehran Chemidor.
Top scorers:
Niroo Zamini: Y.Pouya 27+5reb+3ast, A.Khashayar 12+6reb+3ast, P.Ghonoudi 8+7reb+1ast, S.Reza 8+5reb+3ast, Z.Soheil 4+5reb, H.Erfan 4+2reb
Raad: A.Rineh 18+14reb+6ast, H.Eshagh 16+5reb+3ast, M.Hossien 14+1reb+1ast, D.Adnan 14+2reb+4ast, R.Arian 6+3reb+1ast, M.Talari 2+1reb

Chemidor - Sirjan 63-60

Second-ranked Sirjan (11-6) made lots of trouble for first ranked Chemidor (15-2) in Tehran on Friday. Chemidor managed to secure only three-point victory 63-60. However their fans expected easier game. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Sirjan. Chemidor forced 23 Sirjan turnovers and outrebounded them 45-33 including a 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was Nigerian power forward Alade Aminu (207-87, college: Georgia Tech) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 15 rebounds. The former international center Mohammad Yousofvand (207-96, agency: BIG) chipped in 2 points and 12 rebounds. Chemidor's coach Mehran Shahintab used a ten-player rotation in such tough game. Amir Taherkhani produced 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Russian guard Anton Ponkrashov (200-86) added 8 points and 7 assists respectively for the guests. Chemidor have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain first place with 15-2 record, which they share with Gorgan. Newly promoted Sirjan keeps the second position with six games lost. They share it with Rafsanjan. Chemidor's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Tehran to the arena Niroo Zamini.
Top scorers:
Sirjan: A.Taherkhani 12+7reb+4ast, E.Samadi 12+3reb+1ast, M.Soleymani 11+3reb, A.Ponkrashov 8+4reb+7ast, N.Dragovic 7+3reb+1ast, E.Beigi 5+4reb
Chemidor: A.Aminu 24+15reb, N.Rezaeifar 11+1reb+2ast, V.Mohammadsina 8+3reb+1ast, D.Buycks 5+3reb+5ast, A.Azari 4+3reb, R.Arghavan 4+1reb



Tags : ALADE AMINU, CHEMIDOR TEHRAN, IRANIAN BASKETBALL