LBL Round 23: Dynamo beat Beirut Club by three after a very close game

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game of round 23 in the LBL took place in Beirut. This derby game ended with only three-point home defeat of 3rd placed Beirut Club (17-4) to first ranked Dynamo (20-1) 66-63 on Saturday evening. Strangely Beirut Club outrebounded Dynamo 48-36 including 17 on the offensive glass. American guard Zach Lofton (193-1992, college: NM State, agency: Slash Sports) orchestrated the victory by scoring 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. His fellow American import Marlon Johnson (208-1994, college: NMHU) contributed with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks for the winners. American Shabazz Muhammad (198-1992, college: UCLA) answered with a double-double by scoring 29 points and 16 rebounds for Beirut Club. Dynamo have an impressive series of seventeen victories in a row. They maintain first place with 20-1 record. Defending champion Beirut Club keeps the third position with four games lost. Dynamo are looking forward to face NSA (#10) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Beirut Club's supporters also look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Beirut to the arena Al Riyadi.
Another exciting game was a derby match between two teams from Beirut: Sagesse (#2) and Al Riyadi (#4). Sagesse (18-2) crushed visiting Al Riyadi (16-4) by 24 points 86-62. It ended at the same time the four-game winning streak of Al Riyadi. It was a great evening for American power forward Cliff Alexander (203-1995, college: Kansas, agency: MSG) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 23 rebounds. Kerwin Roach II helped adding 22 points and 7 rebounds. Sagesse's coach felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American guard Kevin Murphy (197-1990, college: Tenn Tech) responded with 30 points and 7 rebounds. The victory was the fifth consecutive win for Sagesse. They maintain second place with 18-2 record having just three points less than leader Dynamo. Al Riyadi at the other side keeps the fourth position with four games lost. Sagesse will play against Liders (#5) in the next round. Al Riyadi's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Beirut Club.
The game between eighth ranked Hoops (8-13) and 12th ranked Byblos (2-19) in Beirut on Sunday ended with biggest points difference. Hoops outscored guests from Byblos 102-66. It was a quality performance for Elios Saad who led the winners with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds. Ibrahim Haddad came up with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists for Byblos in the defeat. Hoops moved-up to seventh place. Byblos lost their sixth game in a row. They stay dead last with 19 lost games. Hoops will meet Atlas (#11) in the next round. Byblos will play against Champville and hope to secure a win.

In the last game of round 23 NSA were beaten by Champville on the road 98-82.

Champville - NSA 98-82

No shocking result in a game when seventh ranked Champville (8-12) beat 10th ranked NSA (6-15) in Dik El Mehdi 98-82 on Thursday. Champville outrebounded NSA 45-32 including a 17-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 26 assists. It was an exceptional evening for the former international guard Jimmy Salem (190-1995) who led the winners with a triple-double by scoring 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Forward Marc Abi-Kheres (197-1994) accounted for 24 points and 7 rebounds for the winning side. Four Champville players scored in double figures. Serbian-Montenegrin forward Milko Bjelica (207-1984, agency: BIG) came up with a double-double by scoring 25 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists and American guard Dallas Morgan (185, college: CMU) added 30 points and 4 assists respectively for NSA in the defeat. NSA's coach rotated eleven players seeing no chance for a win. Champville moved-up to sixth place. NSA lost their third game in a row. Newly promoted team keeps the tenth position with 15 games lost. Champville will meet bottom-ranked Byblos (#12) on the road in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. NSA will play against the league's leader Dynamo and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Champville: M.Abi-Kheres 24+7reb+2ast, J.Salem 23+10reb+10ast, G.Choueiry 20+3reb+3ast, T.Ghassan 12+13reb+2ast, M.Lomayo 7+3reb+1ast, K.Assi 7+4reb+7ast
NSA: D.Morgan 30+3reb+4ast, M.Bjelica 25+15reb+4ast, S.Georges 12+4reb, N.Souaid 6+3reb, G.Elio 4+4ast, K.Jadayel 3+2reb+2ast

Beirut Club - Dynamo 63-66

The most exciting game of round 23 in the LBL took place in Beirut. This derby game ended with only three-point home defeat of 3rd placed Beirut Club (17-4) to first ranked Dynamo (20-1) 66-63 on Saturday evening. Strangely Beirut Club outrebounded Dynamo 48-36 including 17 on the offensive glass. American guard Zach Lofton (193-1992, college: NM State, agency: Slash Sports) orchestrated the victory by scoring 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. His fellow American import Marlon Johnson (208-1994, college: NMHU) contributed with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks for the winners. American Shabazz Muhammad (198-1992, college: UCLA) answered with a double-double by scoring 29 points and 16 rebounds and the former international point guard Rodrigue Akl (187-1988) added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the effort for Beirut Club. Dynamo have an impressive series of seventeen victories in a row. They maintain first place with 20-1 record. Defending champion Beirut Club keeps the third position with four games lost. Dynamo are looking forward to face NSA (#10) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Beirut Club's supporters also look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Beirut to the arena Al Riyadi.
Top scorers:
Dynamo: Z.Lofton 24+6reb+5ast, M.Johnson 16+7reb+2ast, K.Ezzeddine 10+5reb+2ast, G.Salibi 7+5reb+3ast, J.Khalil 5+5reb, M.Alkhoury 4+6reb
Beirut Club: S.Muhammad 29+16reb+1ast, R.Akl 10+6reb+5ast, O.Jamaleddine 7+3reb+4ast, E.Rustom 6+6reb+3ast, G.Hadidian 6+4reb+2ast, M.Haidar 5+12reb

Sagesse - Al Riyadi 86-62

Another exciting game was a derby match between two teams from Beirut: Sagesse (#2) and Al Riyadi (#4). Sagesse (18-2) crushed visiting Al Riyadi (16-4) by 24 points 86-62. It ended at the same time the four-game winning streak of Al Riyadi. Sagesse dominated down low during the game scoring 52 of its points in the paint compared to Al Riyadi's 26. They outrebounded Al Riyadi 47-34 including a 35-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. It was a great evening for American power forward Cliff Alexander (203-1995, college: Kansas, agency: MSG) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 23 rebounds. His fellow American import Kerwin Roach II (192-1996, college: Texas) helped adding 22 points and 7 rebounds. Sagesse's coach felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American guard Kevin Murphy (197-1990, college: Tenn Tech) responded with 30 points and 7 rebounds and Nigerian forward Daniel Ochefu (211-1993, college: Villanova) scored 6 points and 9 rebounds. The victory was the fifth consecutive win for Sagesse. They maintain second place with 18-2 record having just three points less than leader Dynamo. Al Riyadi at the other side keeps the fourth position with four games lost. Sagesse will play against Liders (#5) in the next round. Al Riyadi's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Beirut Club.
Top scorers:
Sagesse: K.Roach II 22+7reb+1ast, C.Alexander 20+23reb, S.El Darwich 19+4reb+4ast, M.Rudy 9+1reb, A.Mezher 9+4reb+10ast, M.Khoueiry 4+3reb+3ast
Al Riyadi: K.Murphy 30+7reb+2ast, I.Moneim 8+4reb+1ast, K.Zeinoun 7+3reb+1ast, D.Ochefu 6+9reb, H.Gyokchyan 5+5reb+1ast, A.Saoud 3+1reb

Hoops - Byblos 102-66

The game between eighth ranked Hoops (8-13) and 12th ranked Byblos (2-19) in Beirut on Sunday ended with biggest points difference. Hoops outscored guests from Byblos 102-66. Hoops dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Byblos' 40. Hoops forced 20 Byblos turnovers and outrebounded them 54-27 including a 25-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. It was a quality performance for power forward Elios Saad (202-2001) who led the winners with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds. Point guard Joseph Zaloum (180-1990) accounted for 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for the winning side. Four Hoops players scored in double figures. The former international Ibrahim Haddad (-1998) came up with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists and point guard Gio Abou Sleiman (184-2004) added 13 points and 5 assists respectively for Byblos in the defeat. Hoops moved-up to seventh place. Byblos lost their sixth game in a row. They stay dead last with 19 lost games. Hoops will meet Atlas (#11) in the next round. Byblos will play against Champville and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Hoops: S.Elios 22+18reb, E.Helou Hicham 19+8reb, J.Zaloum 15+11reb+12ast, S.Abed 15+2reb+5ast, S.Alaa 11+4reb, K.Amir 10+3reb+2ast
Byblos: I.Haddad 16+9reb+4ast, A.Sleiman Gio 13+3reb+5ast, N.Dimitri 11+4reb, R.Guy 9+6reb+1ast, C.Francois 6+4reb+1ast, Y.Charbel 6+1reb



Tags : ZACH LOFTON, DYNAMO LEBANON, LEBANESE BASKETBALL