LBL Round 20: Hoops are defeated by Al Riyadi in a derby game

Here is the last round review presented by ESL.

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#1) and Hoops (#6). Al Riyadi (13-1) smashed visiting Hoops (7-7) by 30 points 98-68. They outrebounded Hoops 47-33 including a 25-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. 26 personal fouls committed by Hoops helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international guard Amir Saoud (186-91) who helped to win the game recording 31 points and 4 assists and swingman Mark Khoury (196-98) who added 17 points and 10 rebounds during the contest. The former international swingman Khalil Aoun (195-90, agency: BIG) responded with 8 points and 13 rebounds. Hoops' coach gave up on the game allowing to play ten players seeing no chance for a win. Al Riyadi have an impressive 12-game winning streak. They maintain first position with 13-1 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the sixth place with seven games lost.
Bottom-ranked Anibal (0-13) is still winless. This time they could not use their home court advantage losing their 13th consecutive match to seventh ranked Byblos (6-7) 70-62. The winners were led by Bechara Boustany who scored that evening 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Mohamad Skaf supported him with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Byblos' coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Even 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists by Christopher Maalouf did not help to save the game for Anibal. Byblos maintains seventh position with 6-7 record. Anibal at the other side still closes the standings with 13 games lost.

The most impressive stats of the last round was 13 points and 12 rebounds by Jean Abdel Nour of Al Riyadi.

Anibal - Byblos 62-70

Bottom-ranked Anibal (0-13) is still winless. This time they could not use their home court advantage losing their 13th consecutive match to seventh ranked Byblos (6-7) 70-62. The winners were led by Bechara Boustany who scored that evening 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Mohamad Skaf supported him with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Byblos' coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Even 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists by Christopher Maalouf did not help to save the game for Anibal. Ghassan Tacca added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the hosts. Byblos maintains seventh position with 6-7 record. Anibal at the other side still closes the standings with 13 games lost.
Top scorers:
Anibal: M.Christopher 18+7reb+5ast, T.Ghassan 11+10reb, A.Tannoury 10+6reb+1ast, M.Tarek 9+5reb+4ast, S.Bechara 7+6reb+2ast, M.Elie 3+2reb+1ast
Byblos: B.Bechara 12+7reb+4ast, S.Mohamad 11+8reb+2ast, T.Saker 11+1reb+1ast, R.Saade 7+3reb+2ast, C.Abboud 6+4reb+1ast, K.Assi 4+3reb

Al Riyadi - Hoops 98-68

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#1) and Hoops (#6). Al Riyadi (13-1) smashed visiting Hoops (7-7) by 30 points 98-68. They outrebounded Hoops 47-33 including a 25-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. 26 personal fouls committed by Hoops helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international guard Amir Saoud (186-91) who helped to win the game recording 31 points and 4 assists and swingman Mark Khoury (196-98) who added 17 points and 10 rebounds during the contest. Five Al Riyadi players scored in double figures. The former international swingman Khalil Aoun (195-90, agency: BIG) responded with 8 points and 13 rebounds and naturalized French guard Gabriel Salibi (203, college: Northeastern St., agency: BIG) scored 10 points and 4 assists. Hoops' coach gave up on the game allowing to play ten players seeing no chance for a win. Al Riyadi have an impressive 12-game winning streak. They maintain first position with 13-1 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the sixth place with seven games lost.
Top scorers:
Hoops: D.T 11+2reb, H.Abdallah 11+4reb+1ast, G.Salibi 10+2reb+4ast, G.Choueiry 10+2reb+1ast, K.Aoun 8+13reb+1ast, D.Baghdadian 6+2reb
Al Riyadi: A.Saoud 31+4ast, M.Khoury 17+10reb+1ast, J.Abdel Nour 13+12reb+2ast, H.Gyokchyan 12+7reb+5ast, A.Mansour 11+4reb+5ast, K.Zeinoun 9+4reb



Tags : AMIR SAOUD, SPORTING AL RIYADI BEIRUT, LEBANESE BASKETBALL