LBL Round 17: Derby game ends with Al Riyadi's defeat of Hoops

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#4) and Hoops (#6). Hoops were crushed at home by 24 points 52-76 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. The former international guard Amir Saoud (186-1991) orchestrated the victory by scoring 15 points and 7 rebounds. The former international center Ater Majok (210-1987, college: UConn) contributed with 17 points and 6 rebounds for the winners. American power forward Julian Scott (203-1990, college: ASU) answered with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds for Hoops. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Al Riyadi maintains fourth place with 11-2 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. They share it with NSA. Al Riyadi are looking forward to face Champville (#5) in Dik El Mehdi in the next round. Hoops' supporters also look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Homentmen.
Bottom-ranked Byblos managed to get a second victory, breaking the series of seven consecutive losses. This time they won against tenth-ranked Atlas 95-83. American forward Phillip Rankin (203-1995, college: LSUA) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds for the winners and Ibrahim Haddad chipped in 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. American guard Myles Carter (185-1999, college: Delaware St.) responded with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Byblos maintains twelfth place with 2-13 record. Atlas lost third consecutive game. They keep the tenth position with 11 games lost. Byblos will play against higher ranked Antranik (#7) in Beirut in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Atlas will have a break next round.
The game in was also quite interesting. 6th ranked Hoops (5-10) played at the court of seventh ranked Liders (6-9). Liders managed to secure a 8-point victory 71-63 on Monday. Youssef Ghantous nailed 27 points for the winning side. Julian Scott came up with a double-double by scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds for Hoops in the defeat. Liders moved-up to sixth place. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. They share it with NSA. Liders will meet higher ranked Champville (#5) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Hoops' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Homentmen.

There were no big surprises in other games of round 17: Dynamo smashed Antranik on the road 90-70. Beirut Club destroyed Homentmen on its own court 96-52. NSA unfortunately lost to Antranik in Beirut 74-82.

Antranik - Dynamo 70-90

No shocking result in a game when second ranked Dynamo (13-1) crushed 9th ranked Antranik (5-9) in Beirut 90-70 on Friday. Dynamo outrebounded Antranik 42-31 including 16 on the offensive glass. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. American guard Zach Lofton (193-1992, college: NM State, agency: Slash Sports) nailed 27 points and 4 assists for the winning side and the former international guard Gabriel Salibi (203-1997, college: Northeastern St.) accounted for 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. American guard Jordan Jackson (190-1997, college: UTRGV) came up with 20 points and 4 steals and the other American import forward Westley Hinton (206-1991, college: Troy) added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks respectively for Antranik in the defeat. Four Antranik players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Dynamo have an impressive series of ten victories in a row. They keep a position of league leader, which they share with Sagesse. Antranik at the other side dropped to the seventh place with nine games lost. Dynamo's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Sagesse.
Top scorers:
Dynamo: Z.Lofton 27+2reb+4ast, M.Alkhoury 13+3reb, I.Thomas 9+3reb, J.Khalil 9+5reb+3ast, G.Salibi 7+8reb+4ast, H.Abdallah 6+5reb
Antranik: J.Jackson 20+3reb+3ast, W.Hinton 14+8reb+2ast, A.Joel 12+2reb+2ast, S.Alaaeddine 11+6reb+1ast, E.Ahmad 6+8reb+1ast, W.Sawan 4+3reb+2ast

Beirut Club - Homentmen 96-52

Very expected game when 11th ranked Homentmen (3-11) was smashed on the road by third ranked Beirut Club (13-2) 96-52 on Sunday. Beirut Club outrebounded Homentmen 41-23 including a 31-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists comparing to just 15 passes made by Homentmen's players. Point guard Jad Nasr (188-2004) nailed 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the winning side and the former international forward Gerard Hadidian (201-1995, college: Lake Land) accounted for 19 points (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). Four Beirut Club players scored in double figures. Daniel Baghdadian came up with 12 points and 9 rebounds and Leonel Lahoud added 18 points respectively for Homentmen in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Beirut Club have an impressive series of five victories in a row. Defending champion maintains third place with 13-2 record having just one point less than leader Sagesse. Homentmen lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the eleventh position with 11 games lost. Beirut Club's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut .
Top scorers:
Beirut Club: G.Hadidian 19+3reb, K.Karl 14+2reb+2ast, N.Jad 13+6reb+6ast, M.Haidar 11+4reb+6ast, S.Alexander 9+6reb+2ast, N.Rabay 8+4reb+3ast
Homentmen: L.Leonel 18+2reb+2ast, D.Baghdadian 12+9reb+3ast, B.Mihran 6+1reb+3ast, K.Kevork 5+3reb+1ast, K.Varak 5+1reb, T.Sakr 4+2reb+2ast

Hoops - Al Riyadi 52-76

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#4) and Hoops (#6). Hoops were crushed at home by 24 points 52-76 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. The former international guard Amir Saoud (186-1991) orchestrated the victory by scoring 15 points and 7 rebounds. The former international center Ater Majok (210-1987, college: UConn) contributed with 17 points and 6 rebounds for the winners. Four Al Riyadi players scored in double figures. American power forward Julian Scott (203-1990, college: ASU) answered with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds and the other American import forward Chris Washburn (203-1993, college: TCU) added 10 points and 7 rebounds in the effort for Hoops. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Al Riyadi maintains fourth place with 11-2 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. They share it with NSA. Al Riyadi are looking forward to face Champville (#5) in Dik El Mehdi in the next round. Hoops' supporters also look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Homentmen.
Top scorers:
Al Riyadi: A.Majok 17+6reb+2ast, A.Saoud 15+7reb+3ast, B.Tabbara 12+2reb, D.Johnson 10+1reb+2ast, H.Gyokchyan 10+5reb+2ast, A.Mansour 4+4reb+7ast
Hoops: J.Scott 16+11reb+2ast, J.Zaloum 11+1reb+1ast, C.Washburn 10+7reb+1ast, S.Jason 6+1reb+2ast, S.Alaa 3+1reb+1ast, K.Aoun 2+3reb

Antranik - NSA 82-74

We could consider it a predictable result in the game between close teams when ninth ranked Antranik (5-9) won against 8th ranked NSA (5-10) in Beirut 82-74 on Friday. American guard Jordan Jackson (190-1997, college: UTRGV) nailed 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals for the winning side and his fellow American import forward Westley Hinton (206-1991, college: Troy) accounted for 18 points and 10 rebounds. Four Antranik players scored in double figures. American guard Dallas Morgan (185, college: CMU) came up with 28 points and 8 rebounds and Serbian-Montenegrin forward Milko Bjelica (207-1984, agency: BIG) added 23 points and 12 rebounds respectively for NSA in the defeat. NSA's coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Antranik moved-up to seventh place. Newly promoted NSA keeps the eighth position with ten games lost. They share it with Hoops. Antranik will meet at home bottom-ranked Byblos (#12) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. NSA will have a break next round.
Top scorers:
Antranik: J.Jackson 23+7reb+6ast, W.Hinton 18+10reb, A.Joel 13+2reb+5ast, S.Alaaeddine 11+5reb, E.Ahmad 9+5reb+1ast, W.Sawan 5+4reb
NSA: D.Morgan 28+8reb+2ast, M.Bjelica 23+12reb+3ast, S.Georges 12+5reb, K.Jadayel 6+4reb+4ast, O.Mahmoud 3+2reb+1ast, O.Kaissy 2+2reb+3ast

Liders - Hoops 71-63

The game in was also quite interesting. 6th ranked Hoops (5-10) played at the court of seventh ranked Liders (6-9). Liders managed to secure a 8-point victory 71-63 on Monday. Liders made 17-of-20 free shots (85.0 percent) during the game. Liders had a 32-20 advantage in offensive rebounds. Guard Youssef Ghantous (191-1996) nailed 27 points for the winning side and the former international swingman Christophe Khalil (192-1999) accounted for 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. American power forward Julian Scott (203-1990, college: ASU) came up with a double-double by scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds and point guard Joseph Zaloum (180-1990) added 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists respectively for Hoops in the defeat. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Liders moved-up to sixth place. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. They share it with NSA. Liders will meet higher ranked Champville (#5) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Hoops' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Homentmen.
Top scorers:
Liders: Y.Ghantous 27+2reb+3ast, S.Davis Jr. 13+9reb+2ast, K.Christophe 10+11reb+4ast, A.Peacock 10+4reb+1ast, J.Nemer 9+7reb+1ast, J.Makhlouf 2+4reb+1ast
Hoops: J.Zaloum 16+5reb+5ast, J.Scott 14+10reb+3ast, C.Washburn 13+6reb+2ast, S.Abed 12+5reb+2ast, K.Amir 3, S.Alaa 2

Byblos - Atlas 95-83

Bottom-ranked Byblos managed to get a second victory, breaking the series of seven consecutive losses. This time they won against tenth-ranked Atlas 95-83. Byblos players were unselfish on offense dishing 25 assists. American forward Phillip Rankin (203-1995, college: LSUA) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds for the winners and the former international Ibrahim Haddad (-1998) chipped in 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. American guard Myles Carter (185-1999, college: Delaware St.) responded with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and the other American import power forward Mason Harrell (203-1997, college: WSSU) produced a double-double by scoring 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Four Atlas players scored in double figures. Byblos maintains twelfth place with 2-13 record. Atlas lost third consecutive game. They keep the tenth position with 11 games lost. Byblos will play against higher ranked Antranik (#7) in Beirut in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Atlas will have a break next round.
Top scorers:
Byblos: P.Rankin 28+14reb+1ast, I.Haddad 26+6reb+4ast, V.Bermudez 13+9reb+10ast, A.Sleiman Gio 9+1reb+6ast, N.Dimitri 8+1reb, S.Mohamed 7+4reb+1ast
Atlas: M.Carter 28+7reb+6ast, G.Yves-Daaboul 16+4reb+3ast, M.Harrell 16+11reb, F.Pierre 16+3reb, E.Ayoubi Refaat 4+4reb+3ast, H.Turfe 3+3reb+3ast



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