LBL Round 4 (Regular Season): Beirut Club lose to Sagesse

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most crucial game of the last round was the first loss of Beirut Club (3-1) at the home court on Sunday night. Hosts were edged by Sagesse (4-0) 89-87. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Beirut Club. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Sagesse forced 19 Beirut Club turnovers. 29 personal fouls committed by Beirut Club helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of Tunisian forward Radhouane Slimane (204-1980) who helped to win the game recording 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and the former international swingman Ahmad Ibrahim (198-1992, college: Rice) who added 19 points, 5 assists and 4 steals during the contest. At the losing side American-Jordanian Dar Tucker (193-1988, college: DePaul) responded with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Sagesse have a solid four-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Beirut Club at the other side dropped to the second place with one game lost. They share the position with Al Riyadi and Champville. Sagesse are looking forward to face Mayrouba (#8) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Beirut Club will play against Antonine (#9) and is hoping to win this game.
Very significant was Hoops' (#8) 79-73 road victory against 7th ranked Mayrouba. The winners were led by American point guard Jesse Jones (183, college: Bridgeport) who scored that evening 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and Romani Hansen supported him with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Even a double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds by Jamaican power forward Samardo Samuels (206-1989, college: Louisville) did not help to save the game for Mayrouba. Hoops (2-2) moved-up to fifth place, which they share with Homentmen. Newly promoted Mayrouba keeps the seventh position with three games lost. They share it with Antonine and Antranik. Hoops will play against bottom-ranked NSA (#10) in the next round where they are favorite. Mayrouba will play against the league's leader Sagesse in Beirut to get more than just one victory in their record.
Another interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#4) and Antranik (#7). Al Riyadi (3-1) smashed visiting Antranik (1-3) by 32 points 95-63. Elmedin Kikanovic fired a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. Guy Atamian produced 20 points and 9 rebounds for lost side. Defending champion moved-up to second place, which they share with Beirut Club and Champville. Loser Antranik keeps the seventh position with three games lost. They share it with Antonine and Mayrouba. Al Riyadi will meet Champville (#4) in the next round. Antranik's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Homentmen.

In the last two games of round 4 Antonine was destroyed by Homentmen on the opponent's court 100-73. Winless NSA unfortunately lost to Champville in a home game 80-81.



Homentmen - Antonine 100-73

Everything could happen in Beirut at the game between two tied teams. Both seventh ranked Homentmen and 8th ranked Antonine had identical 1-2 record. This time Homentmen used a home court advantage and crushed the opponent from 100-73 on Thursday night. Homentmen made 23-of-28 free shots (82.1 percent) during the game. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Homentmen made 8 blocks. The former international forward Gerard Hadidian (201-1995, college: Lake Land) fired 16 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. American forward Dewayne Jackson (203-1990, college: Morgan St.) chipped in 14 points and 9 rebounds. Five Homentmen players scored in double figures. Point guard Bryan Mansour (188-2004) produced 17 points and American forward LaQuinton Ross (203-1992, college: Ohio St.) added 11 points and 9 rebounds respectively for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Homentmen (2-2) moved-up to fifth place, which they share with Hoops. Newly promoted Antonine dropped to the seventh position with three games lost. They share it with Mayrouba and Antranik. Homentmen's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Beirut to the arena Antranik.
Top scorers:
Homentmen: G.Chivichyan 22+1reb+1ast, G.Hadidian 16+9reb+1ast, J.Khalil 14+1reb+6ast, D.Jackson 14+9reb+2ast, J.Salem 12+7reb+1ast, R.Putney 12+6reb
Antonine: M.Bryan 17+4reb+1ast, L.Ross 11+9reb+1ast, J.Davis 10+2reb+6ast, D.Bassil 9+3reb, B.Elio 6+1reb, J.Makhlouf 6+6reb

Mayrouba - Hoops 73-79

Very significant was Hoops' (#8) 79-73 road victory against 7th ranked Mayrouba. Strangely Mayrouba outrebounded Hoops 52-37 including a 36-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. The winners were led by American point guard Jesse Jones (183, college: Bridgeport) who scored that evening 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and U.S. Virgin Islands forward Romani Hansen (203-1997, college: Albany) supported him with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Even a double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds by Jamaican power forward Samardo Samuels (206-1989, college: Louisville) did not help to save the game for Mayrouba. American Dylan Smith (196-1997, college: Arizona, agency: Hendrix Sports Management) added 23 points and 14 rebounds for lost side. Hoops (2-2) moved-up to fifth place, which they share with Homentmen. Newly promoted Mayrouba keeps the seventh position with three games lost. They share it with Antonine and Antranik. Hoops will play against bottom-ranked NSA (#10) in the next round where they are favorite. Mayrouba will play against the league's leader Sagesse in Beirut to get more than just one victory in their record.
Top scorers:
Hoops: J.Jones 23+6reb+6ast, R.Hansen 21+10reb+2ast, M.Al-Khoury 10+11reb, S.Abed 6+2reb, I.Haddad 5+1reb+1ast, M.Lewis 4+4reb+1ast
Mayrouba: D.Smith 23+14reb+3ast, S.Samuels 23+16reb+1ast, K.Christophe 12+3reb+2ast, C.Manigault 6+4reb+3ast, M.Hijazi 5+6reb+4ast, J.Assi 4+3reb

NSA - Champville 80-81

Very predictable result when fourth ranked Champville (3-1) edged on the road bottom-ranked NSA (0-4) 81-80 on Friday. Champville looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. American guard Javion Blake (191-1997, college: Washburn, agency: Haylett Sports) fired 19 points and 7 assists for the winners. Senegalese forward Ibrahima Thomas (213-1987, college: Cincinnati, agency: BIG) chipped in 16 points and 8 rebounds. Four Champville players scored in double figures. American guard Brian Holmes (185-1991, college: Georgia South) produced a double-double by scoring 33 points (!!!) and 11 rebounds and his fellow American import Derick Newton (198-1995, college: Stetson) added 17 points and 6 rebounds respectively for lost side. Champville moved-up to second place, which they share with Al Riyadi and Beirut Club. Newly promoted NSA still closes the standings with four games lost. Champville will meet at home Al Riyadi (#3) in the next round, which may be the game of the day. NSA will play against Hoops (#6) in Beirut and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Champville: J.Blake 19+3reb+7ast, P.Abboud 18+7reb+1ast, J.Artis 17+4reb+3ast, I.Thomas 16+8reb+3ast, G.Salibi 9+7reb+6ast, L.Saleh 2+3reb
NSA: B.Holmes 33+11reb+1ast, D.Newton 17+6reb+3ast, C.Godfrey 9+9reb, S.Michael 8+3reb, E.Helou Hicham 7+6reb+3ast, J.Zaloum 5+4reb+9ast

Al Riyadi - Antranik 95-63

Another interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#4) and Antranik (#7). Al Riyadi (3-1) smashed visiting Antranik (1-3) by 32 points 95-63. Al Riyadi dominated down low during the game scoring 58 of its points in the paint compared to Antranik's 38 and made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Al Riyadi looked well-organized offensively handing out 26 assists. Bosnian center Elmedin Kikanovic (211-1988) fired a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. The former international guard Amir Saoud (186-1991) chipped in 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Four Al Riyadi players scored in double figures. Guy Atamian produced 20 points and 9 rebounds and American forward Jordan Bruner (208-1997, college: Alabama, agency: Diamond Sports) added 6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists respectively for lost side. Defending champion moved-up to second place, which they share with Beirut Club and Champville. Loser Antranik keeps the seventh position with three games lost. They share it with Antonine and Mayrouba. Al Riyadi will meet Champville (#4) in the next round. Antranik's supporters 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: E.Kikanovic 24+11reb+2ast, A.Saoud 21+5reb+6ast, M.Harris 18+2reb+1ast, S.Sakakini 11+6reb, K.Zeinoun 8+4reb+8ast, B.Tabbara 6+3reb+1ast
Antranik: A.Guy 20+9reb+2ast, Y.Ghantous 12+1reb+4ast, A.Kopaly 11+6reb+1ast, J.Bruner 6+10reb+4ast, S.Alaaeddine 6+1reb+2ast, C.Harvey 4+4reb+2ast

Beirut Club - Sagesse 87-89

The most crucial game of the last round was the first loss of Beirut Club (3-1) at the home court on Sunday night. Hosts were edged by Sagesse (4-0) 89-87. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Beirut Club. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Sagesse forced 19 Beirut Club turnovers. 29 personal fouls committed by Beirut Club helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of Tunisian forward Radhouane Slimane (204-1980) who helped to win the game recording 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and the former international swingman Ahmad Ibrahim (198-1992, college: Rice) who added 19 points, 5 assists and 4 steals during the contest. At the losing side American-Jordanian Dar Tucker (193-1988, college: DePaul) responded with 23 points and 7 rebounds and the former international point guard Ali Mezher (182-1994) produced a double-double by scoring 13 points and 16 assists (made all of his eleven free throws !!!). Four Sagesse and five Beirut Club players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Sagesse have a solid four-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Beirut Club at the other side dropped to the second place with one game lost. They share the position with Al Riyadi and Champville. Sagesse are looking forward to face Mayrouba (#8) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Beirut Club will play against Antonine (#9) and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Sagesse: R.Slimane 23+7reb+5ast, A.Ibrahim 19+4reb+5ast, K.Ezzeddine 14+4reb, O.Jamaleddine 11+9reb+1ast, W.Austin 8+7reb+1ast, G.A. Williams II 5+2ast
Beirut Club: D.Tucker 23+7reb+2ast, S.El Darwich 14+7reb+1ast, A.Mezher 13+1reb+16ast, C.Alexander 11+14reb+1ast, M.Haidar 10+4reb, T.Mitchell 10+3reb+1ast