QBL Round 10 (Regular Season): Al Arabi lose to Al Rayyan

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The biggest surprise took place in Doha where host Al Rayyan (8-1) crushed league's leader Al Arabi (7-2) 106-87 on Thursday evening. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Al Rayyan dominated down low during the game scoring 72 of its points in the paint compared to Al Arabi's 36 and made 16-of-19 free shots (84.2 percent) during the game. Al Rayyan looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. American guard Malik Curry (185-1999, college: WVU) fired 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the winners. Latvian Rolands Freimanis (209-1988) chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds. The former international forward Abdelrahman Yahya (202-1996) produced 24 points and 8 rebounds for lost side. Al Rayyan have a solid three-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Defending champion Al Arabi dropped to the second place with two games lost. They were replaced at the leadership position by Al Rayyan. Al Arabi will play next round against Al Wakrah trying to make it back to the top of the standings. Al Rayyan will try to continue on its current victory against seventh ranked Al Gharafa. It will be extra interesting game as Al Gharafa is their local rival from Doha.
Another interesting game was a derby match between two teams from Doha: Al Arabi (#1) and Al Shamal (#6). Al Shamal was defeated at home 82-86 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Worth to mention a great performance of Bahrain point guard Mustafa Ali (177-2002) who helped to win the game recording 20 points and 6 assists. Abdulrahman Saad contributed with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. Al Arabi's coach Hatem Mamlouk allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. American guard Shane Rector (188-1994, college: Utah St.) replied with 28 points and 7 rebounds for Al Shamal. Despite that victory Al Arabi went down to second position due to points difference. Al Shamal at the other side keeps the sixth place with five games lost. Al Arabi will play against Al Wakrah (#5) at home in the next round. Al Shamal's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha Al Ahli.
Another interesting game was again a derby between two local teams from Doha: Al Sadd (#3) and Al Gharafa (#7). Al Sadd (6-3) smashed visiting Al Gharafa (2-7) by 21 points 98-77. Malik Toppin had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners. Al Sadd's coach Vassilis Bratsiakos felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side Josh Hall responded with a double-double by scoring 30 points and 17 rebounds. Al Sadd maintains third position with 6-3 record having just two points less than leader Al Rayyan. Al Gharafa lost third consecutive game. They keep the seventh place with seven games lost. Al Sadd's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha .

In the last two games of round 10 Al Wakrah was defeated by Al Ahli in Doha 88-80. Bottom-ranked Qatar Club was smashed by Al Shamal at home 79-104.



Al Shamal - Al Arabi 82-86

Another interesting game was a derby match between two teams from Doha: Al Arabi (#1) and Al Shamal (#6). Al Shamal was defeated at home 82-86 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Al Shamal was plagued by 25 personal fouls down the stretch. Worth to mention a great performance of Bahrain point guard Mustafa Ali (177-2002) who helped to win the game recording 20 points and 6 assists. The former international swingman Abdulrahman Saad (185-1996) contributed with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. Four Al Arabi players scored in double figures. Al Arabi's coach Hatem Mamlouk allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. American guard Shane Rector (188-1994, college: Utah St.) replied with 28 points and 7 rebounds and his fellow American import guard Tyree Crump (185-1997, college: Georgia, agency: BIG) added 26 points (made all of his twelve free throws !!!) in the effort for Al Shamal. Despite that victory Al Arabi went down to second position due to points difference. Al Shamal at the other side keeps the sixth place with five games lost. Al Arabi will play against Al Wakrah (#5) at home in the next round. Al Shamal's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha Al Ahli.
Top scorers:
Al Arabi: A.Mustafa 20+4reb+6ast, S.Abdulrahman 17+6reb+4ast, D.Sindou 15+6reb+1ast, O.Dieng 14+8reb+2ast, T.Jeremy 7+5reb+1ast, O.Abdelbaset 6+6reb
Al Shamal: S.Rector 28+7reb+3ast, T.Crump 26+4reb+2ast, T.Baxter Jr. 13+4reb+2ast, A.Oussama 6+6reb, M.Mohamed 4+4reb+1ast, N.Alioune 3+6reb

Al Ahli D. - Al Wakrah 88-80

There was a minor upset in Doha where their close opponent Al Wakrah (5-4) was defeated by fourth ranked Al Ahli (6-4) 88-80 on Wednesday. Al Ahli dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Al Wakrah's 40. American guard Nigel Johnson (187-1995, college: Virginia) scored 28 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the charge for the winners and the other American import power forward Raekwon Rogers (203-1999, college: Wagner, agency: One Motive Sports) chipped in 22 points and 7 rebounds during the contest. Johnson is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. At the losing side American guard Aaron Mitchell (188-1989, college: Longwood) responded with a double-double by scoring 22 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists (made all of his seven free throws) and American-Haitian forward Wes Alcegaire (198-1994, college: BGSU, agency: BIG) scored 23 points and 6 rebounds. Al Ahli have a solid four-game winning streak. They maintain fourth position with 6-4 record. Loser Al Wakrah dropped to the fifth place with four games lost. Al Ahli's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Doha to the arena Al Shamal.
Top scorers:
Al Ahli D.: J.Nigel 28+5reb+4ast, A.Taylor 23+7reb+1ast, R.Raekwon 22+7reb+3ast, M.Abbasher 7+5reb+1ast, Y.Yagoub 4+5reb+1ast, M.Ndao 2+3reb+2ast
Al Wakrah: W.Alcegaire 23+6reb+3ast, A.Mitchell 22+13reb+5ast, B.Camara 19+5reb+7ast, S.Ndour Mame 6+6reb+1ast, T.Momar 5+2reb, J.Mubarak 5+2reb

Qatar Club - Al Shamal 79-104

No shocking result in a game in Doha where sixth ranked Al Shamal (5-5) smashed 9th ranked Qatar Club (2-8) 104-79 on Wednesday. Al Shamal looked well-organized offensively handing out 27 assists. American guard Shane Rector (188-1994, college: Utah St.) scored 26 points, 6 assists and 5 steals (made all of his seven free throws) to lead the charge for the winners and Ghassan Hajar chipped in 13 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists during the contest. At the losing side American forward Terrence Thompson (203-1994, college: Wake Forest) responded with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 14 rebounds and the other his fellow American import import power forward Raekwon Rogers (203-1999, college: Wagner, agency: One Motive Sports) produced a double-double by scoring 15 points and 10 rebounds. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. Al Shamal maintains sixth position with 5-5 record. Loser Qatar Club dropped to the eighth place with eight games lost. Al Shamal's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha Al Ahli.
Top scorers:
Al Shamal: R.Shane 26+4reb+6ast, C.Tyree 15+2reb+3ast, B.Troy 14+6reb+1ast, G.Hajar 13+6reb+7ast, A.Ndoye 11+7reb+1ast, M.Mohamed 10+4reb+3ast
Qatar Club: K.Kolako 18+5reb, T.Thompson 16+14reb+1ast, J.Nicholas 15+6reb+1ast, S.Asem 15+10reb+3ast, A.Adam 13+1reb+3ast, A.Abdulrahman 2+1reb+1ast

Al Sadd - Al Gharafa 98-77

Another interesting game was again a derby between two local teams from Doha: Al Sadd (#3) and Al Gharafa (#7). Al Sadd (6-3) smashed visiting Al Gharafa (2-7) by 21 points 98-77. Al Sadd looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists comparing to just 10 passes made by Al Gharafa's players. American center Malik Toppin (206-1997, college: Salem) had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and South Sudanese-Australian forward Deng Adel (201-1997, college: Louisville) chipped in 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists during the contest. Worth to mention Toppin played also at Eurobasket Summer League, which helped get the job in pro basketball. Five Al Sadd players scored in double figures. Al Sadd's coach Vassilis Bratsiakos felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side American forward Josh Hall (206-2000) responded with a double-double by scoring 30 points and 17 rebounds and his fellow American import guard Rashad Williams (188-2000, college: UAPB) scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Al Sadd maintains third position with 6-3 record having just two points less than leader Al Rayyan. Al Gharafa lost third consecutive game. They keep the seventh place with seven games lost. Al Sadd's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha .
Top scorers:
Al Sadd: T.Malik 27+14reb+3ast, M.Fouda 17+1reb+6ast, G.Steven 16+2reb+5ast, A.Deng 14+7reb+4ast, F.Abuissa 13+4reb+4ast, O.Saad 11+1reb+1ast
Al Gharafa: J.Hall 30+17reb+3ast, R.Williams 18+6reb+4ast, M.Nedim 18+5reb+1ast, M.Mohd 6+2reb+1ast, Y.Azam 3+4reb, A.Zaahin 2

Al Rayyan - Al Arabi 106-87

The biggest surprise took place in Doha where host Al Rayyan (8-1) crushed league's leader Al Arabi (7-2) 106-87 on Thursday evening. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Al Rayyan dominated down low during the game scoring 72 of its points in the paint compared to Al Arabi's 36 and made 16-of-19 free shots (84.2 percent) during the game. Al Rayyan looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. American guard Malik Curry (185-1999, college: WVU) fired 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the winners. Latvian Rolands Freimanis (209-1988) chipped in a double-double by scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. The former international forward Abdelrahman Yahya (202-1996) produced 24 points and 8 rebounds and American guard Sindou Diallo (194-2000, college: Montana Tech) added 18 points and 7 rebounds respectively for lost side. Five Al Rayyan and four Al Arabi players scored in double figures. Al Rayyan have a solid three-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Defending champion Al Arabi dropped to the second place with two games lost. They were replaced at the leadership position by Al Rayyan. Al Arabi will play next round against Al Wakrah trying to make it back to the top of the standings. Al Rayyan will try to continue on its current victory against seventh ranked Al Gharafa. It will be extra interesting game as Al Gharafa is their local rival from Doha.
Top scorers:
Al Rayyan: C.Malik 24+7reb+8ast, A.Mousa 22+4reb+5ast, F.Rolands 20+10reb+3ast, H.Tyler 19+10reb+1ast, B.Rion 10+6reb+3ast, D.Babacar 9+1reb+1ast
Al Arabi: A.Yahya 24+8reb+2ast, M.Ali 19+1reb+5ast, S.Diallo 18+7reb+2ast, J.Tyler 10+10reb+3ast, R.Khaled 7+1reb+1ast, D.Ousmanediatta 5+4reb+2ast