LBL Round 15 (Regular Season): Homentmen defeat Beirut Club in the closest game of the week

There are only two more rounds left in the Regular Season in LBL. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game of round 15 in the LBL took place in Beirut. This derby game ended with only three-point home defeat of second-best Beirut Club (11-5) to fifth ranked Homentmen (10-6) 84-81 on Saturday evening. Homentmen made 23-of-29 free shots (79.3 percent) during the game. Homentmen outrebounded Beirut Club 48-37 including 36 on the defensive glass. It was a great evening for American forward Dewayne Jackson (203-1990, college: Morgan St.) who led his team to a victory scoring 16 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. American-Rwandan center Prince Ibeh (208-1994, college: Texas) helped adding 18 points and 10 rebounds. The best for the losing side was American forward Tyree Corbett (201-2000, college: Denver) with a double-double by scoring 22 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Beirut Club's coach Joe Ghattas rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Homentmen moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Champville. Beirut Club at the other side dropped to the third position with five games lost. Homentmen is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Mayrouba (#10) at home in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Beirut Club's supporters also look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Al Riyadi.
The game between Top Four teams took place in Dik El Mehdi. 4th placed host Champville (10-6) lost to second ranked Sagesse (12-4) 99-93. It was an exceptional evening for the former international swingman Ahmad Ibrahim (198-1992, college: Rice) who led the winners and scored 23 points and 8 rebounds. Deng Acuoth accounted for 6 points and 12 rebounds. Sagesse's coach Jad El Hajj allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American-Syrian guard Javion Blake (191-1997, college: Washburn, agency: Haylett Sports) came up with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists for Champville in the defeat. Sagesse have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain second place with 12-4 record having just two points less than leader Al Riyadi. Champville at the other side keeps the fourth position with six games lost. They share it with Homentmen. Sagesse's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Hoops.
LBL top team - Al Riyadi (14-2) had no problems winning another game on Friday. This time they beat ninth ranked Hoops (3-13) in Beirut 102-86. The best player for the winners was Elmedin Kikanovic who scored 21 points and 6 rebounds. At the other side the best for losing team was Brachon Griffin who recorded 29 points and 8 assists. Hoops' coach Alen Abaz tested ten players seeing no chance for a win. Al Riyadi have an impressive series of ten victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 14-2 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the ninth position with 13 games lost. Al Riyadi's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Beirut to the arena Beirut Club.

In the last two games of round 15 Antranik won against Mayrouba on the opponent's court 86-80. NSA unfortunately lost to Antonine in a home game 81-87.



Champville - Sagesse 93-99

The game between Top Four teams took place in Dik El Mehdi. 4th placed host Champville (10-6) lost to second ranked Sagesse (12-4) 99-93. It was an exceptional evening for the former international swingman Ahmad Ibrahim (198-1992, college: Rice) who led the winners and scored 23 points and 8 rebounds. South Sudanese-Australian center Deng Acuoth (208-1996) accounted for 6 points and 12 rebounds for the winning side. Sagesse's coach Jad El Hajj allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American-Syrian guard Javion Blake (191-1997, college: Washburn, agency: Haylett Sports) came up with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists and Senegalese forward Ibrahima Thomas (213-1987, college: Cincinnati, agency: BIG) added 18 points and 5 rebounds respectively for Champville in the defeat. Four Champville players scored in double figures. Sagesse have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain second place with 12-4 record having just two points less than leader Al Riyadi. Champville at the other side keeps the fourth position with six games lost. They share it with Homentmen. Sagesse's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Hoops.
Top scorers:
Champville: J.Blake 23+9reb+9ast, I.Thomas 18+5reb+2ast, J.Artis 18+4reb+1ast, G.Salibi 14+6reb+3ast, P.Abboud 9+6reb, E.Rustom 6+5reb+3ast
Sagesse: A.Ibrahim 23+8reb, J.Gibson 11+1reb, M.Khoueiry 11+5reb+2ast, A.Abdel Massih 9+3reb, K.Ezzeddine 8, R.Akl 6

Mayrouba - Antranik 80-86

Very expected game when 10th ranked Mayrouba (1-15) was defeated at home by sixth ranked Antranik (8-8) 86-80 on Thursday. The best player for the winners was American forward Jamir Coleman (201-1997, college: CCSU, agency: Haylett Sports) who scored 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line). His fellow American import guard Christian Harvey (185, college: Marian, IN) chipped in 24 points and 6 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was South Sudanese-Australian forward Madut Akec (201-1999, college: Detroit) who recorded a double-double by scoring 24 points and 13 rebounds and American-New Zealand forward Marcel Jones (203-1985, college: Oregon St.) added 18 points and 8 rebounds respectively. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Antranik maintains sixth place with 8-8 record. Mayrouba lost fourteenth consecutive game. Newly promoted team stay at the bottom position with 15 games lost. Antranik will meet at home NSA (#8) in the next round. Mayrouba will play against Homentmen in Beirut and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Mayrouba: M.Akec 24+13reb+1ast, M.Jones 18+8reb+1ast, K.Christophe 15+2reb+6ast, V.Lewis II 12+6reb+2ast, S.Bechara 7+3reb+1ast, A.Samra Joseph 4+2reb+2ast
Antranik: J.Coleman 25+9reb+5ast, C.Harvey 24+3reb+6ast, J.Bruner 17+14reb+1ast, A.Kopaly 10+7reb+1ast, Y.Ghantous 8+4reb+3ast, S.Alaaeddine 2+1reb

Al Riyadi - Hoops 102-86

LBL top team - Al Riyadi (14-2) had no problems winning another game on Friday. This time they beat ninth ranked Hoops (3-13) in Beirut 102-86. Al Riyadi had a 27-16 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Al Riyadi made 10 blocks. The best player for the winners was Bosnian center Elmedin Kikanovic (211-1988) who scored 21 points and 6 rebounds. Naturalized Egyptian power forward Ahmad Ismail (205-1976) chipped in 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists (perfect from the field making all six shots). Five Al Riyadi players scored in double figures. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Brachon Griffin (185-1992, college: ECSU) who recorded 29 points and 8 assists and international swingman Mark Al-Khoury (196-1998) added 19 points respectively. Hoops' coach Alen Abaz tested ten players seeing no chance for a win. Al Riyadi have an impressive series of ten victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 14-2 record. Hoops lost third consecutive game. They keep the ninth position with 13 games lost. Al Riyadi's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Beirut to the arena Beirut Club.
Top scorers:
Hoops: B.Griffin 29+2reb+8ast, M.Al-Khoury 19+4reb+2ast, S.Foxbrennen 10+7reb+1ast, S.Abed 9+1ast, S.Alaa 7+3reb+1ast, A.Jamal Omar 4+5reb
Al Riyadi: E.Kikanovic 21+6reb+2ast, M.Harris 17+1reb+3ast, A.Ismail 14+5reb+4ast, W.Arakji 12+5reb+6ast, H.Gyokchyan 11+8reb+1ast, A.Mansour 11+3reb+6ast

NSA - Antonine 81-87

The game between closely ranked teams ended with seventh ranked Antonine's (7-9) road victory over 8th ranked NSA (4-12) 87-81 on Friday. Antonine looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists. The best player for the winners was Azerbaijani-American guard Jordan Davis (188-1997, college: N.Colorado) who had a double-double by scoring 30 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. Dominican Luis Montero (203-1993, college: South Plains) chipped in a double-double by scoring 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Antonine's coach used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Byron Wesley (196-1992, college: Gonzaga) who recorded a double-double by scoring 26 points and 10 rebounds and the other American import Derick Newton (198-1995, college: Stetson) added 13 points and 13 rebounds respectively. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Newly promoted Antonine maintains seventh place with 7-9 record. NSA at the other side, also newcomer in the league, keeps the eighth position with 12 games lost. Antonine will meet at home higher ranked Champville (#4) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. NSA will play against Antranik (#6) in Beirut and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
NSA: B.Wesley 26+10reb+1ast, C.Godfrey 15+7reb+4ast, E.Helou Hicham 14+6reb+1ast, D.Newton 13+13reb+3ast, J.Zaloum 9+4reb+5ast, S.Georges 4+3reb
Antonine: J.Davis 30+13reb+8ast, L.Montero 17+10reb+5ast, J.Makhlouf 12+4reb+1ast, M.Bryan 10+3reb+3ast, A.Anthony 9+6reb+1ast, B.Saliba 6+1reb+2ast

Beirut Club - Homentmen 81-84

The most exciting game of round 15 in the LBL took place in Beirut. This derby game ended with only three-point home defeat of second-best Beirut Club (11-5) to fifth ranked Homentmen (10-6) 84-81 on Saturday evening. Homentmen made 23-of-29 free shots (79.3 percent) during the game. Homentmen outrebounded Beirut Club 48-37 including 36 on the defensive glass. It was a great evening for American forward Dewayne Jackson (203-1990, college: Morgan St.) who led his team to a victory scoring 16 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. American-Rwandan center Prince Ibeh (208-1994, college: Texas) helped adding 18 points and 10 rebounds. Five Homentmen players scored in double figures. The best for the losing side was American forward Tyree Corbett (201-2000, college: Denver) with a double-double by scoring 22 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks and the former international guard Sergio El Darwich (194-1996, college: Maine) scored 22 points and 7 rebounds. Beirut Club's coach Joe Ghattas rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Homentmen moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Champville. Beirut Club at the other side dropped to the third position with five games lost. Homentmen is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Mayrouba (#10) at home in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Beirut Club's supporters also look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Beirut Al Riyadi.
Top scorers:
Beirut Club: T.Corbett 22+13reb+2ast, S.El Darwich 22+7reb+3ast, D.Tucker 15+7reb+2ast, M.Haidar 6+5reb+1ast, A.Mezher 6+4ast, L.Mallory 4+2reb+1ast
Homentmen: P.Ibeh 18+10reb+2ast, D.Jackson 16+9reb+7ast, J.Khalil 15+6reb+8ast, G.Hadidian 15+10reb+2ast, G.Ajemian 13+9reb, A.Tanios 4+1reb