DLBL Round 22 (Regular Season): Sagesse is defeated by Al Riyadi in a derby game

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#1) and Sagesse (#2). Sagesse was defeated at home 86-94 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. It ended at the same time the eight-game winning streak of Sagesse. Al Riyadi made 20-of-25 free shots (80.0 percent) during the game. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. U.S. Virgin Islands-American forward Marcus Georges-Hunt (196-1994, college: Georgia Tech) scored 23 points and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and South Sudanese-Australian forward Kouat Noi (201-1997, college: TCU) chipped in 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists during the contest. At the losing side Canadian center Simi Shittu (208-1999, college: Vanderbilt) responded with 25 points and 23 rebounds. Defending champion maintains first position with 21-1 record. Sagesse at the other side keeps the second place with four games lost.
The game between Top Four teams took place in Beirut. Third ranked host Hoops (14-8) defeated one of their biggest challengers Al Markaziyyah (13-9) 93-87. American guard Vante Hendrix (196-1998, college: CSUN, agency: BIG) notched 22 points and 4 assists (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) to lead the effort and Christian Bradford supported him with 18 points and 4 assists. Hoops' coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Even a double-double of 24 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists by American-Dominican forward Anyeuri Castillo (201-1997, college: USC Aiken) did not help to save the game for Al Markaziyyah. Hoops have a solid four-game winning streak. They maintain third position with 14-8 record having seven points less than leader Al Riyadi. Al Markaziyyah at the other side keeps the fourth place with nine games lost. They share the position with Antonine and Antranik.
12th ranked Tadamon (1-21) was outscored at home by eighth ranked Beirut Club (10-12) with the biggest margin this round 91-67 on Saturday night. Mike Adewunmi fired a double-double by scoring 28 points and 13 rebounds for the winners. Beirut Club's coach felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Sidiki Kone produced 14 points and 9 rebounds for lost side. Beirut Club maintains eighth position with 10-12 record. Tadamon lost eighth consecutive game. They stay dead last with 21 lost games.

There were no shocking results in the other games in round 22: Antonine won against NSA on the opponent's court 84-77. Maristes unfortunately lost to Antranik in a home game 78-94. Homentmen recorded a loss to Batroun on the road 74-82.
The most impressive stats of the last round was 22 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists by Jordan Stevens of Homentmen.



NSA - Antonine 77-84

Rather expected game when 9th ranked NSA (6-16) was defeated at home by sixth ranked Antonine (13-9) 84-77 on Friday. American guard Jarred Godfrey (196-2000, college: PFW) fired 25 points and 4 assists for the winners. American-Kosovan guard Dominic Artis (190-1993, college: UTEP) chipped in 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Tunisian power forward Mohamed Ochi (210-1999) produced a double-double by scoring 14 points and 15 rebounds and the former international swingman Christophe Khalil (192-1999) added 22 points and 9 rebounds respectively for lost side. Four NSA players scored in double figures. Antonine have a solid three-game winning streak. They moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Al Markaziyyah and Antranik. NSA lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the tenth position with 16 games lost.
Top scorers:
Antonine: G.Jarred 25+2reb+4ast, A.Mark 15+7reb+1ast, A.Dominic 15+9reb+5ast, C.Elie 9+5reb+1ast, P.Justin 8+8reb+1ast, A.Anthony 7
NSA: R.Williams 25+3ast, C.Khalil 22+9reb, M.Ochi 14+15reb+2ast, A.Thomas 14+4reb+1ast, M.Haddad 2+3reb+2ast, K.Mechref 0+1reb+3ast

Maristes - Antranik 78-94

Very predictable result in Dik El Mehdi where sixth ranked Antranik (13-9) defeated 11th ranked Maristes (5-17) 94-78 on Friday. Antranik shot the lights out from three sinking 17 long-distance shots on high 53.1 percentage. American point guard Jeremiah Gambrell Jr (190-2000, college: Alcorn St., agency: 0z Sports Agency) fired 51 points (!!!) and 6 assists for the winners. South Sudanese center Majur Majak (213-1998, college: New Haven) chipped in a double-double by scoring 24 points and 13 rebounds. American guard Lyndel Erold (190, college: Brown) produced 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and power forward Hadi El Khatib (204-2007) added 24 points and 9 rebounds respectively for lost side. Antranik have an impressive five-game winning streak. They moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Al Markaziyyah and Antonine. Maristes lost thirteenth consecutive game. They keep the eleventh position with 17 games lost.
Top scorers:
Antranik: G.Jeremiah 51+3reb+6ast, M.Majur 24+13reb, M.Nassar 5+1reb+1ast, S.Rouhana 4+4reb+1ast, Y.Bteich 4+3reb, R.Guy 4+4reb
Maristes: L.Erold 27+7reb+5ast, H.El Khatib 24+9reb+2ast, S.Ray 11+5reb+2ast, M.Assaf 8+6reb+1ast, M.Rudy 6+5reb+4ast, G.Samaha 2+7reb+2ast

Tadamon - Beirut Club 67-91

12th ranked Tadamon (1-21) was outscored at home by eighth ranked Beirut Club (10-12) with the biggest margin this round 91-67 on Saturday night. Beirut Club looked well-organized offensively handing out 31 assists. Nigerian-American guard Mike Adewunmi (198-1999, college: UTRGV) fired a double-double by scoring 28 points and 13 rebounds for the winners. Joseph Abou Samra (196-2004, agency: BIG) chipped in 19 points. Beirut Club's coach felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. French-Mali power forward Sidiki Kone (211-2001) produced 14 points and 9 rebounds and American forward Eric Williams (198-1985, college: Tarleton St.) added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists respectively for lost side. Four Tadamon players scored in double figures. Beirut Club maintains eighth position with 10-12 record. Tadamon lost eighth consecutive game. They stay dead last with 21 lost games.
Top scorers:
Beirut Club: A.Mike 28+13reb+3ast, A.Joseph 19+4reb+3ast, J.Makhlouf 10+9reb+3ast, E.Devin 9+3reb+3ast, P.Richaud 8+4reb+5ast, Z.Marwan 5+5reb
Tadamon: Y.Omar 17+2reb+4ast, S.Kone 14+9reb+2ast, D.Abwok 13+6reb+4ast, W.Eric 10+8reb+6ast, A.Alex 6+4reb+3ast, D.John 3+3reb+1ast

Sagesse - Al Riyadi 86-94

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Beirut: Al Riyadi (#1) and Sagesse (#2). Sagesse was defeated at home 86-94 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. It ended at the same time the eight-game winning streak of Sagesse. Al Riyadi made 20-of-25 free shots (80.0 percent) during the game. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. U.S. Virgin Islands-American forward Marcus Georges-Hunt (196-1994, college: Georgia Tech) scored 23 points and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and South Sudanese-Australian forward Kouat Noi (201-1997, college: TCU) chipped in 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists during the contest. Four Al Riyadi players scored in double figures. At the losing side Canadian center Simi Shittu (208-1999, college: Vanderbilt) responded with 25 points and 23 rebounds and the former international forward Youssef Khayat (206-2003, college: BGSU) scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists (made all of his twelve free throws !!!). Defending champion maintains first position with 21-1 record. Sagesse at the other side keeps the second place with four games lost.
Top scorers:
Al Riyadi: G.Marcus 23+4reb+6ast, N.Kouat 23+6reb+4ast, W.Jarvis 18+12reb, Z.Karim 10+4reb+3ast, I.Ahmad 9+4reb+1ast, M.Ali 7+2reb+2ast
Sagesse: S.Shittu 25+23reb+1ast, K.Youssef 25+8reb+4ast, G.Hadidian 11+4reb, J.Khalil 9+1reb+1ast, A.Mezher 9+3reb+7ast, B.Wesley 5+1reb+2ast

Hoops - Al Markaziyyah 93-87

The game between Top Four teams took place in Beirut. Third ranked host Hoops (14-8) defeated one of their biggest challengers Al Markaziyyah (13-9) 93-87. American guard Vante Hendrix (196-1998, college: CSUN, agency: BIG) notched 22 points and 4 assists (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) to lead the effort and the other American import point guard Christian Bradford (185-1995, college: Radford) supported him with 18 points and 4 assists. Bradford is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Four Hoops players scored in double figures. Hoops' coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Even a double-double of 24 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists by American-Dominican forward Anyeuri Castillo (201-1997, college: USC Aiken) did not help to save the game for Al Markaziyyah. International forward Jihad El Khatib (206-2005) added 29 points and 8 rebounds for lost side. Hoops have a solid four-game winning streak. They maintain third position with 14-8 record having seven points less than leader Al Riyadi. Al Markaziyyah at the other side keeps the fourth place with nine games lost. They share the position with Antonine and Antranik.
Top scorers:
Hoops: H.Vante 22+4reb+4ast, B.Christian 18+1reb+4ast, A.Omar 17+3reb, Y.George 11+4reb+6ast, T.Luka 9+1ast, S.Abed 8+5reb
Al Markaziyyah: J.El Khatib 29+8reb+2ast, A.Castillo 24+12reb+7ast, A.Gueye 19+6reb+2ast, M.Khoury 9+2reb, K.Mark 2+1reb+1ast, M.Watson 2+2reb+8ast

Batroun - Homentmen 82-74

There was a minor upset when 7th ranked Homentmen (11-11) was defeated on the road by ninth ranked Batroun (7-15) 82-74 on Sunday. Batroun dominated down low during the game scoring 56 of its points in the paint compared to Homentmen's 30. Batroun looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Batroun made 7 blocks. American guard Keon Clergeot (185-1996, college: SE Louisiana, agency: MSG) fired 18 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals for the winners. Canadian Antonio Davis (190-1996, college: Mid-Continent) chipped in a double-double by scoring 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Four Batroun players scored in double figures. American point guard Jordan Stevens (182-1994, college: Midwestern St.) produced 22 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists and the former international Aziz Abdel Massih (192-1996) added 21 points respectively for lost side. Newly promoted Batroun maintains ninth position with 7-15 record. Loser Homentmen keeps the seventh place with 11 games lost.
Top scorers:
Batroun: C.Keon 18+7reb+9ast, G.Brison 14+5reb+1ast, A.Davis 14+10reb+4ast, B.Saba 13+3reb+5ast, K.Kozah 8+3reb+4ast, M.Al 8+1ast
Homentmen: J.Stevens 22+7reb+9ast, A.Abdel Massih 21+1reb+2ast, D.Peter 9+9reb+2ast, H.Mohamad 8+4reb+2ast, S.Brian 7+3reb, T.Akiki 5+3reb