QBL Round 13 (Regular Season): Al Rayyan beat Al Sadd in a derby game

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Doha: Al Rayyan (#1) and Al Sadd (#3). Al Sadd was defeated at home 90-105 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Al Sadd. Al Rayyan dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Al Sadd's 42. Al Rayyan looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists. American Rion Brown (198, college: Miami, FL) fired 27 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the winners. His fellow American import guard Malik Curry (185-1999, college: WVU) chipped in 14 points, 5 rebounds, 17 assists and 5 steals. South Sudanese-Australian forward Deng Adel (201-1997, college: Louisville) produced 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for lost side. Al Rayyan (10-1) have an impressive series of five victories in a row. They maintain first place. Al Sadd at the other side dropped to the fourth position with four games lost. Al Rayyan are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Al Khor (#9) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Al Sadd will play against Al Wakrah (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Another exciting game was again a derby between two teams from Doha: Al Arabi (#2) and Qatar Club (#7). Al Arabi (10-2) crushed visiting Qatar Club (2-10) by 19 points 102-83. Worth to mention a great performance of Bahrain point guard Mustafa Ali (177-2002) who helped to win the game recording 23 points and 4 assists. Dee Bost contributed with 12 points and 13 assists for the winners. Al Arabi's coach Hatem Mamlouk used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American Rion Brown (198, college: Miami, FL) answered with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for Qatar Club. The victory was the third consecutive win for Al Arabi. Defending champion maintains second place with 10-2 record having just one point less than leader Al Rayyan. Qatar Club at the other side dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. Al Arabi'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 exciting game was again a derby match of two local teams from Doha: Al Gharafa (#8) and Al Shamal (#6). Al Shamal was crushed at home by 27 points 73-100 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Josh Hall stepped up with a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!) and 14 rebounds for the winners. At the losing side Shane Rector responded with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Al Gharafa (3-9) moved-up to seventh place. Al Shamal lost their third game in a row. They keep the sixth position with seven games lost. Al Gharafa's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha Qatar Club.

In the last game of round 13 bottom-ranked Al Khor was crushed by Al Ahli in Doha 99-75.



Al Sadd - Al Rayyan 90-105

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Doha: Al Rayyan (#1) and Al Sadd (#3). Al Sadd was defeated at home 90-105 and even the advantage of their own court did not help. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Al Sadd. Al Rayyan dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Al Sadd's 42. Al Rayyan looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists. American Rion Brown (198, college: Miami, FL) fired 27 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the winners. His fellow American import guard Malik Curry (185-1999, college: WVU) chipped in a double-double by scoring 14 points, 5 rebounds, 17 assists and 5 steals. South Sudanese-Australian forward Deng Adel (201-1997, college: Louisville) produced 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists and American guard Steven Green (196-1993, college: OKBU) added 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists respectively for lost side. Five Al Rayyan and four Al Sadd players scored in double figures. Al Rayyan (10-1) have an impressive series of five victories in a row. They maintain first place. Al Sadd at the other side dropped to the fourth position with four games lost. Al Rayyan are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Al Khor (#9) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Al Sadd will play against Al Wakrah (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Al Sadd: A.Faisal 22+1reb+3ast, D.Adel 22+7reb+8ast, S.Green 21+8reb+4ast, M.Toppin 15+9reb+1ast, F.Moustafa 5+1reb, S.Omar 3+2reb+1ast
Al Rayyan: B.Rion 27+8reb+6ast, A.Mousa 25+3reb+2ast, H.Tyler 18+10reb+2ast, C.Malik 14+5reb+17ast, F.Rolands 13+6reb+3ast, D.Babacar 6+1reb

Al Ahli D. - Al Khor 99-75

There was no surprise in Doha where 9th ranked Al Khor (1-10) was crushed by fourth ranked Al Ahli (8-4) 99-75 on Saturday. Al Ahli dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Al Khor's 40. They outrebounded Al Khor 43-29 including 30 on the defensive glass. American center Taylor Adway (205-1996, college: Ferris St.) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 21 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists (on 9-of-11 shooting from the field) for the winners and his fellow American import guard Nigel Johnson (187-1995, college: Virginia, agency: 6th Man Basketball Agency) chipped in 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Johnson is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Five Al Ahli D. players scored in double figures. At the losing side American point guard Jesse Jones (183, college: Bridgeport) responded with 24 points and 7 assists and Italian-Serbian Lazar Trunic (198-2000) scored 19 points and 7 rebounds. The victory was the sixth consecutive win for Al Ahli. They moved-up to third place. Al Khor lost their fourth game in a row. They stay at the bottom position with ten 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 Arabi.
Top scorers:
Al Khor: J.Jones 24+2reb+7ast, L.Trunic 19+7reb+2ast, D.Djibrirou 13+6reb+2ast, A.Adam 6+2reb, K.Mohamed 6+4reb, N.Karim 5+3reb
Al Ahli D.: J.Nigel 25+6reb+4ast, A.Taylor 21+14reb+4ast, R.Raekwon 20+3reb+3ast, M.Abbasher 10+9reb+2ast, M.Darwish 10+9reb+1ast, Y.Yagoub 7+3ast

Al Arabi - Qatar Club 102-83

Another exciting game was again a derby between two teams from Doha: Al Arabi (#2) and Qatar Club (#7). Al Arabi (10-2) crushed visiting Qatar Club (2-10) by 19 points 102-83. Al Arabi dominated down low during the game scoring 64 of its points in the paint compared to Qatar Club's 42. Al Arabi players were unselfish on offense dishing 32 assists comparing to just 15 passes made by Qatar Club's players. Worth to mention a great performance of Bahrain point guard Mustafa Ali (177-2002) who helped to win the game recording 23 points and 4 assists. Bulgarian-American point guard Dee Bost (189-1989, college: MSU) contributed with a double-double by scoring 12 points and 13 assists for the winners. Al Arabi's coach Hatem Mamlouk used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American Rion Brown (198, college: Miami, FL) answered with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists and American-Jamaican guard Josh Nicholas (190-1998, college: ULM) added 17 points and 5 rebounds in the effort for Qatar Club. Four Al Arabi and five Qatar Club players scored in double figures. The victory was the third consecutive win for Al Arabi. Defending champion maintains second place with 10-2 record having just one point less than leader Al Rayyan. Qatar Club at the other side dropped to the eighth position with ten games lost. Al Arabi'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:
Qatar Club: S.Asem 19+2reb+2ast, J.Nicholas 17+5reb+2ast, A.Mitrovic 16+4reb+1ast, J.Dejan 15+8reb+7ast, T.Thompson 10+12reb, M.Omar 2+1ast
Al Arabi: A.Mustafa 23+4reb+4ast, O.Dieng 19+4reb+2ast, Y.Abdelrahman 13+8reb+4ast, E.Kikanovic 12+2reb+1ast, B.Dee 12+4reb+13ast, A.Saeed 7+2reb+1ast

Al Shamal - Al Gharafa 73-100

Another exciting game was again a derby match of two local teams from Doha: Al Gharafa (#8) and Al Shamal (#6). Al Shamal was crushed at home by 27 points 73-100 and even the fact of playing on their own court did not help. Al Gharafa dominated down low during the game scoring 54 of its points in the paint compared to Al Shamal's 28. They outrebounded Al Shamal 46-27 including a 35-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. Al Gharafa looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. American forward Josh Hall (206-2000) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!) and 14 rebounds for the winners and Colombian-Dominican point guard Jesse Zarzuela (188, college: Oregon) chipped in 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Hall is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Four Al Gharafa players scored in double figures. At the losing side American guard Shane Rector (188-1994, college: Utah St.) responded with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and the other American import guard Tyree Crump (185-1997, college: Georgia, agency: BIG) scored 20 points and 6 rebounds. Al Gharafa (3-9) moved-up to seventh place. Al Shamal lost their third game in a row. They keep the sixth position with seven games lost. Al Gharafa's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Doha Qatar Club.
Top scorers:
Al Shamal: S.Rector 23+6reb+6ast, T.Crump 20+6reb+2ast, T.Baxter Jr. 18+5reb+1ast, N.Alioune 7+9reb+2ast, H.Ghassan 5+1reb+7ast, A.Oussama 0
Al Gharafa: H.Josh 41+14reb+3ast, Z.Jesse 20+8reb+4ast, W.Rashad 14+3reb+6ast, N.Muslic 13+9reb+8ast, M.Mohmmed 8+8reb+1ast, R.Al-Abdulla 2+3reb