Atlas are upset by Beirut Club

The Regular Season in LBL is slowly approaching the end. But there may be still some important changes in the final standings in the last 4 rounds. Here is the last round review presented by ESL.

The most important game in the last round took place in Beirut between second ranked Atlas (9-5) and fifth ranked Beirut Club (9-6) on Wednesday night. Atlas were crushed by Beirut Club on the road 95-56. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Atlas. Beirut Club dominated down low during the game scoring 60 of its points in the paint compared to Atlas' 22. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 27 assists comparing to just 9 passes made by Atlas' players. International guard Georges El Beyrouty (193-99) fired a double-double by scoring 24 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. The former international Elie Chamoun (193-94, agency: BIG) chipped in 22 points and 5 assists. Beirut Club's coach Patrick Saba felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. point guard Joseph Zaloum (180-90) produced 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for lost side. Beirut Club maintains fifth position with 9-6 record. Atlas at the other side dropped to the fourth place with five games lost. Beirut Club will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Atlas' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Zahle Anibal.
Bottom-ranked Anibal (0-15) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 122-71 loss to fourth ranked Sagesse (10-5) in Zahle. But it was rather predictable considering how strong their opponent was. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international swingman Nadim Souaid (192-86, agency: BIG) who helped to win the game recording 32 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Ali Mezher contributed with 14 points, 22 assists and 9 steals for the winners. Coach 's team controlled all game and the coach could let to play 11 players and allowed the starting five to rest. Christopher Maalouf replied with 33 points (!!!) for Anibal. Sagesse have a solid four-game winning streak. They moved-up to second place. Anibal at the other side still closes the standings with 15 games lost. Sagesse will play against Moutahed (#8) in Tripoli in the next round where they are favorite. Anibal's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Zahle to the arena Atlas.
Another interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Hoops (#6) and Homentmen (#9). Homentmen was smashed at home by 31 points 54-85 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Gabriel Salibi scored 22 points and 7 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners. At the losing side Bassel Takieddine responded with 6 points and 13 rebounds. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Hoops maintains sixth position with 8-7 record. Homentmen lost sixth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 13 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.

In the last game of round 22 Moutahed was defeated by Byblos in a road game 77-66.

Byblos - Moutahed 77-66

The game between closely ranked teams ended with 8th ranked Moutahed's (5-9) road loss to seventh ranked Byblos (7-7) 66-77 on Monday. Byblos dominated down low during the game scoring 50 of its points in the paint compared to Moutahed's 28. Byblos forced 25 Moutahed turnovers. Guard Karl Assi (187-98, agency: BIG) scored 18 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) to lead the charge for the winners and Bechara Boustany chipped in 20 points during the contest. Five Byblos players scored in double figures. At the losing side Ibrahim Haddad (-98) responded with a double-double by scoring 23 points and 14 rebounds and guard Malek Hijazi (190-94, college: West LA) scored 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Moutahed's coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Byblos maintains seventh position with 7-7 record. Loser Moutahed keeps the eighth place with nine games lost. Byblos will meet at home league's leader Al Riyadi in the next round and they do not belong to the favorites in that game. Moutahed will play against the league's second-placed Sagesse (#2) having rather not much hope for a victory.
Top scorers:
Moutahed: I.Haddad 23+14reb+3ast, M.Hijazi 16+7reb+4ast, G.Elio 8+1ast, S.Rayan 6+6reb+1ast, Z.Hassan 6+3reb, B.Omar 4+4reb+1ast
Byblos: B.Bechara 20+4reb+2ast, K.Assi 18+5reb+8ast, C.Abboud 13+1reb, S.Mohamad 13+11reb, T.Saker 11+6reb+4ast, M.Abdo 2+2reb

Homentmen - Hoops 54-85

Another interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Hoops (#6) and Homentmen (#9). Homentmen was smashed at home by 31 points 54-85 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Hoops shot 24 for 34 from the free-throw line, while Homentmen only scored five points from the stripe. Hoops forced 26 Homentmen turnovers. Naturalized French guard Gabriel Salibi (203, college: Northeastern St., agency: BIG) scored 22 points and 7 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and guard Youssef Ghantous (191-96) chipped in 18 points and 8 rebounds during the contest. Four Hoops players scored in double figures. At the losing side guard Bassel Takieddine (-0) responded with 6 points and 13 rebounds and Karl Zaloum scored 13 points. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Hoops maintains sixth position with 8-7 record. Homentmen lost sixth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 13 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Homentmen: Z.Karl 13+3reb+2ast, C.Saad 11+6reb+1ast, K.Jadayel 6+2reb+3ast, T.Bassel 6+13reb+1ast, A.Carlo 5+2reb+1ast, A.Serouj 5+3reb+2ast
Hoops: G.Salibi 22+7reb+2ast, Y.Ghantous 18+8reb+2ast, G.Choueiry 17+1reb+1ast, K.Michel 11+1reb+1ast, K.Aoun 5+10reb+6ast, D.T 4+1reb

Beirut Club - Atlas 95-56

The most important game in the last round took place in Beirut between second ranked Atlas (9-5) and fifth ranked Beirut Club (9-6) on Wednesday night. Atlas were crushed by Beirut Club on the road 95-56. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Atlas. Beirut Club dominated down low during the game scoring 60 of its points in the paint compared to Atlas' 22. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 27 assists comparing to just 9 passes made by Atlas' players. International guard Georges El Beyrouty (193-99) fired a double-double by scoring 24 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. The former international Elie Chamoun (193-94, agency: BIG) chipped in 22 points and 5 assists. Four Beirut Club players scored in double figures. Beirut Club's coach Patrick Saba felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Point guard Joseph Zaloum (180-90) produced 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Elias Sebaaly added 12 points and 11 rebounds respectively for lost side. Beirut Club maintains fifth position with 9-6 record. Atlas at the other side dropped to the fourth place with five games lost. Beirut Club will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Atlas' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Zahle Anibal.
Top scorers:
Atlas: J.Zaloum 18+5reb+5ast, S.Elias 12+11reb, J.Jarrouge 12+3reb+1ast, M.Abi-Kheres 7+6reb+1ast, E.Helou Hicham 4+3reb, K.Mohamad 2+2reb+2ast
Beirut Club: G.El Beyrouty 24+12reb+4ast, E.Chamoun 22+4reb+5ast, A.Zeinoun 15+2reb+5ast, P.Bou Abboud 12+4reb+1ast, N.Rabay 11+8reb+1ast, M.Ziadeh 9+8reb+3ast

Anibal - Sagesse 71-122

Bottom-ranked Anibal (0-15) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 122-71 loss to fourth ranked Sagesse (10-5) in Zahle. But it was rather predictable considering how strong their opponent was. They dominated down low during the game scoring 66 of its points in the paint compared to Anibal's 32. Sagesse forced 29 Anibal turnovers and had a 34-23 advantage in offensive rebounds. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 40 assists comparing to just 12 passes made by Anibal's players. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international swingman Nadim Souaid (192-86, agency: BIG) who helped to win the game recording 32 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. International point guard Ali Mezher (182-94) contributed with a double-double by scoring 14 points, 22 assists and 9 steals for the winners. Five Sagesse players scored in double figures. Coach 's team controlled all game and the coach could let to play 11 players and allowed the starting five to rest. Christopher Maalouf replied with 33 points (!!!) and Andre Tannoury (195-1) added 17 points and 9 rebounds in the effort for Anibal. Sagesse have a solid four-game winning streak. They moved-up to second place. Anibal at the other side still closes the standings with 15 games lost. Sagesse will play against Moutahed (#8) in Tripoli in the next round where they are favorite. Anibal's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Zahle to the arena Atlas.
Top scorers:
Anibal: M.Christopher 33+1reb+3ast, A.Tannoury 17+9reb, A.Nicolas 9+11reb+2ast, M.Elie 5+1reb, H.Georges 4+2reb+1ast, T.Ghassan 3+12reb+4ast
Sagesse: N.Souaid 32+7reb+6ast, K.Christophe 26+11reb+3ast, A.Mezher 14+4reb+22ast, M.Khoueiry 13+4ast, H.Mike 11+4reb, T.Makhlouf 9+5reb



Tags : GABRIEL SALIBI, HOOPS CLUB, LEBANESE BASKETBALL