LBL Round 21: Hoops are defeated by Dynamo in a derby game

The teams have now bigger motivation at this stage of Regular Season. Every game can be crucial and decide about teams' position at the end of Regular Season. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Dynamo (#1) and Hoops (#8). Hoops were defeated at home 72-80 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. Dynamo looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. The former international swingman Mark Alkhoury (196-1998) stepped up and scored 28 points and 9 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winners and American guard Zach Lofton (193-1992, college: NM State, agency: Slash Sports) chipped in 14 points and 5 rebounds. Dynamo's coach Jad El Hajj used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. The best for the losing side was power forward Elios Saad (202-2001) with 24 points and 8 rebounds (on 11-of-13 shooting from the field). Dynamo (19-1) have an impressive series of sixteen victories in a row. They maintain first place. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the eighth position with 13 games lost. They share it with NSA. Dynamo will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Hoops will play against NSA (#9) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
LBL top team - Dynamo (19-1) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed seventh ranked Champville (7-12) in Beirut 96-65. American Marlon Johnson (208-1994, college: NMHU) nailed a double-double by scoring 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks for the winning side and Karim Ezzeddine accounted for 17 points and 7 rebounds. Dynamo's coach Jad El Hajj felt very confident that he used entire bench and allowed the starting five to rest. Forward Marc Abi-Kheres (197-1994) came up with a double-double by scoring 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists for Champville in the defeat. The victory was the sixteenth consecutive win for Dynamo. They maintain first place with 19-1 record. Champville at the other side keeps the seventh position with 12 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.

There were no shocking results in the rest of the games of round 21: NSA lost to Homentmen on the opponent's court 85-90. Bottom-ranked Byblos unfortunately lost to Liders in a home game 83-96. Atlas were rolled over Al Riyadi on the road 78-101.

Homentmen - NSA 90-85

We cannot really consider it an upset in the game between close teams in Beirut where 9th ranked NSA (6-13) was defeated by tenth ranked Homentmen (5-13) 90-85. American guard Mark Lyons (185-1989, college: Arizona) nailed 33 points (!!!), 5 rebounds and 4 assists for the winning side and his fellow American import DaJuan Summers (203-1988, college: Georgetown) accounted for 25 points and 14 rebounds. Four Homentmen players scored in double figures. Serbian-Montenegrin forward Milko Bjelica (207-1984, agency: BIG) came up with a double-double by scoring 32 points and 14 rebounds and American guard Dallas Morgan (185, college: CMU) added 37 points (!!!), 6 rebounds and 4 assists respectively for NSA in the defeat. NSA's coach tried various players' combinations and tested in total eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Homentmen maintains tenth place with 5-13 record. Newly promoted NSA dropped to the eighth position with 13 games lost. They share it with Hoops. Homentmen will play against bottom-ranked Byblos (#12) on the road in the next round. NSA will play against Hoops (#8) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Homentmen: M.Lyons 33+5reb+4ast, D.Summers 25+14reb, A.Tanios 12+4reb+2ast, K.Mohamad 11+4reb+2ast, D.Baghdadian 6+12reb, T.Sakr 3
NSA: D.Morgan 37+6reb+4ast, M.Bjelica 32+14reb+3ast, S.Georges 6+6reb, O.Kaissy 4+1reb+4ast, K.Michel 3+1reb+2ast, K.Mohammad 3

Hoops - Dynamo 72-80

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Dynamo (#1) and Hoops (#8). Hoops were defeated at home 72-80 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. Dynamo looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. The former international swingman Mark Alkhoury (196-1998) stepped up and scored 28 points and 9 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winners and American guard Zach Lofton (193-1992, college: NM State, agency: Slash Sports) chipped in 14 points and 5 rebounds. Four Dynamo players scored in double figures. Dynamo's coach Jad El Hajj used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. The best for the losing side was power forward Elios Saad (202-2001) with 24 points and 8 rebounds (on 11-of-13 shooting from the field) and point guard Joseph Zaloum (180-1990) scored 11 points, 9 assists and 4 steals. Dynamo (19-1) have an impressive series of sixteen victories in a row. They maintain first place. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the eighth position with 13 games lost. They share it with NSA. Dynamo will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Hoops will play against NSA (#9) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Dynamo: M.Alkhoury 28+9reb+1ast, Z.Lofton 14+5reb+3ast, K.Ezzeddine 12+5reb+4ast, A.Ibrahim 12+2reb+5ast, J.Khalil 7+3reb+2ast, A.Mahmoud 5+5reb+5ast
Hoops: S.Elios 24+8reb+1ast, R.Hansen 13+10reb+1ast, J.Zaloum 11+4reb+9ast, S.Jason 7+4reb, S.Abed 6+6reb+2ast, E.Helou Hicham 6+1reb+3ast

Byblos - Liders 83-96

Very predictable result when sixth ranked Liders (8-11) defeated on the road bottom-ranked Byblos (2-17) 96-83. Americans were the main players on the court. Guard Stanley Davis Jr (196-1998, college: Morgan St.) nailed 29 points and 5 assists for the winning side and Alex Peacock (199-1997, college: Texas St.) accounted for 20 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Power forward CJ Aiken (206-1990, college: St.Joseph's, agency: BIG) came up with a double-double by scoring 21 points and 16 rebounds and forward Akil Parrish (198, college: San Diego Mesa) added 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists respectively for Byblos in the defeat. Four Liders and five Byblos players scored in double figures. Liders moved-up to fifth place. Byblos lost their fourth game in a row. They stay at the bottom position with 17 games lost. Liders will play against Atlas (#11) in Zahle in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Byblos will play at home against Homentmen and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Liders: S.Davis Jr. 29+3reb+5ast, A.Peacock 20+11reb+6ast, K.Christophe 16+10reb+3ast, Y.Ghantous 14+1reb, H.Mike 12+1reb, J.Nemer 3+8reb+4ast
Byblos: C.Aiken 21+16reb+3ast, I.Haddad 18+2reb+2ast, A.Parrish 16+7reb+5ast, A.Tanos Rami 16+1reb+2ast, N.Dimitri 12+4reb+2ast, R.Guy 0+1ast

Al Riyadi - Atlas 101-78

Not a big story in a game in Beirut where 11th ranked Atlas (4-15) were rolled over by fourth ranked Al Riyadi (15-3) 101-78. Al Riyadi made 17-of-22 charity shots (77.3 percent) during the game. Al Riyadi outrebounded Atlas 45-27 including a 15-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 27 assists comparing to just 12 passes made by Atlas' players. The former international guard Wael Arakji (194-1994) nailed 28 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for the winning side and the former international Bilal Tabbara (198-1993) accounted for 21 points and 9 rebounds. American guard Myles Carter (185-1999, college: Delaware St., agency: Diamond Sports) came up with 30 points and 4 assists and the other American import power forward Mason Harrell (203-1997, college: WSSU) added 11 points and 17 rebounds respectively for Atlas in the defeat. The victory was the third consecutive win for Al Riyadi. They maintain fourth place with 15-3 record. Atlas lost their seventh game in a row. They keep the eleventh position with 15 games lost. Al Riyadi's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Antranik.
Top scorers:
Al Riyadi: W.Arakji 28+5reb+6ast, B.Tabbara 21+9reb+1ast, D.Ochefu 10+8reb+3ast, H.Gyokchyan 10+5reb+1ast, I.Moneim 9+4reb+4ast, A.Mansour 9+9reb+3ast
Atlas: M.Carter 30+3reb+4ast, G.Yves-Daaboul 21+1reb+4ast, M.Harrell 11+17reb+1ast, F.Georges 9+3reb, M.Tarek 3+2reb, F.Pierre 2

Dynamo - Champville 96-65

LBL top team - Dynamo (19-1) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed seventh ranked Champville (7-12) in Beirut 96-65. Dynamo dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Champville's 24. Dynamo forced 22 Champville turnovers and outrebounded them 50-39 including 20 on the offensive glass. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 26 assists. Dynamo brought some defensive toughness making 7 blocks. American Marlon Johnson (208-1994, college: NMHU) nailed a double-double by scoring 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks for the winning side and international power forward Karim Ezzeddine (206-1997, college: N.Mexico) accounted for 17 points and 7 rebounds. Dynamo's coach Jad El Hajj felt very confident that he used entire bench and allowed the starting five to rest. Forward Marc Abi-Kheres (197-1994) came up with a double-double by scoring 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and the former international guard Jimmy Salem (190-1995) added 12 points and 5 rebounds respectively for Champville in the defeat. Four Champville players scored in double figures. The victory was the sixteenth consecutive win for Dynamo. They maintain first place with 19-1 record. Champville at the other side keeps the seventh position with 12 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Dynamo: M.Johnson 27+10reb+1ast, K.Ezzeddine 17+7reb+2ast, M.Alkhoury 10+7reb, Z.Lofton 8+3reb+5ast, C.Moussa 7+3reb+1ast, A.Mahmoud 7+2reb+7ast
Champville: A.Kopaly 15+2reb, M.Abi-Kheres 15+11reb+4ast, J.Salem 12+5reb+2ast, M.Lomayo 10+6reb+1ast, T.Ghassan 8+10reb, K.Assi 4+3reb+8ast



Tags : MARK ALKHOURY, DYNAMO LEBANON, LEBANESE BASKETBALL