SBL Round 14 (Regular Season): Al Nassr is upset by Ohod

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most important game in the last round took place in Medina between second ranked Al Nassr (11-2) and sixth ranked Ohod (8-5) on Friday night. Al Nassr was defeated by Ohod on the road 104-93. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Al Nassr. They outrebounded Al Nassr 47-27 including a 35-21 advantage in defensive rebounds. Ohod looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists. The game was dominated by American players. The best player for the winners was guard Jonathon Simmons (198-1989, college: Houston) who had a double-double by scoring 27 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists. Center Henry Sims (208-1990, college: Georgetown) chipped in 23 points and 10 rebounds. Guard PJ Hardy (185-1998, college: Louisiana) produced 29 points and 9 assists for the guests. Ohod moved-up to fifth place. Al Nassr at the other side keeps the second position with two games lost. Ohod are looking forward to face higher ranked Al Hilal (#4) in Riyadh in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. Al Nassr will play at home against Al Wehda and is hoping to win this game.
Bottom-ranked Deba (0-11) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 103-54 loss to third ranked Al Ahli (10-3) in Tabuk. American Hollis Thompson (203-1991, college: Georgetown) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Ahmed Abkar contributed with 23 points and 5 assists for the winners. Al Ahli's coach Ali Alsanhani felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American-Jamaican guard Josh Nicholas (190-1998, college: ULM) replied with 24 points and 5 rebounds for Deba. Al Ahli have a solid four-game winning streak. Defending champion maintains third position with 10-3 record having just three points less than leader Ittihad, which they share with Al Hilal. Deba at the other side still closes the standings with 11 games lost. Al Ahli will play against bottom-ranked Al Taawoun (#12) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Deba will play against the league's leader Ittihad in Jeddah and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Bottom-ranked Al Taawoun (0-13) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 96-87 loss to second ranked Ittihad (12-2) in on Friday evening. But it was rather predictable considering how strong their opponent was. James Edwards Jr scored 27 points to lead the charge for the winners. Ittihad's coach Mohamed Kardani used a ten-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. Markus Loncar responded with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds. Ittihad have a solid three-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Loser Al Taawoun still closes the standings with 13 games lost. Ittihad will meet at home Deba (#11) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Al Taawoun will play against Al Ahli in Jeddah and looks forward to get finally their first victory.

Rest of the games of round 14 were quite predictable and ended without any surprises. Here they are:
Al Fateh was defeated by Al Safa in Safwa 102-97. Al Khaleej was smashed by Al Salam at home 75-95. Al Hilal won against Al Wehda on the opponent's court 101-85.
The best stats of 14th round was 27 points and 12 assists by Antwan Scott of Al Hilal.



Deba - Al Ahli 54-103

Bottom-ranked Deba (0-11) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 103-54 loss to third ranked Al Ahli (10-3) in Tabuk. They dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Deba's 26. They outrebounded Deba 49-29 including a 36-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. Al Ahli players were unselfish on offense dishing 31 assists comparing to just 5 passes made by Deba's players. American Hollis Thompson (203-1991, college: Georgetown) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Ahmed Abkar contributed with 23 points and 5 assists for the winners. Five Al Ahli players scored in double figures. Al Ahli's coach Ali Alsanhani felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American-Jamaican guard Josh Nicholas (190-1998, college: ULM) replied with 24 points and 5 rebounds and Loiy Aleswy added 20 points in the effort for Deba. Al Ahli have a solid four-game winning streak. Defending champion maintains third position with 10-3 record having just three points less than leader Ittihad, which they share with Al Hilal. Deba at the other side still closes the standings with 11 games lost. Al Ahli will play against bottom-ranked Al Taawoun (#12) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Deba will play against the league's leader Ittihad in Jeddah and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Deba: J.Nicholas 24+5reb+1ast, A.Loiy 20+3reb, A.Saud 4+1reb, M.Mohammed 4+5reb+1ast, I.Suhail 2+8reb+2ast, A.Rayan 0
Al Ahli: H.Thompson 24+11reb+5ast, A.Ahmed 23+3reb+5ast, I.Aska 13+8reb+5ast, K.Mohammed 10+5reb+4ast, M.Abdulrahman 10+2reb+6ast, K.Mohammed 9+1reb+1ast

Al Taawoun - Ittihad 87-96

Bottom-ranked Al Taawoun (0-13) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 96-87 loss to second ranked Ittihad (12-2) in on Friday evening. But it was rather predictable considering how strong their opponent was. American center James Edwards Jr (211-1997, college: Southern) scored 27 points to lead the charge for the winners and the former international Abdulrahman Fallata (183-1999) chipped in 25 points and 6 rebounds during the contest. Four Ittihad players scored in double figures. Ittihad's coach Mohamed Kardani used a ten-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. Bosnian center Markus Loncar (213-1996) responded with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds and American power forward Devin Gilmore (200-1997, college: Murray St.) scored 36 points (!!!). Ittihad have a solid three-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader. Loser Al Taawoun still closes the standings with 13 games lost. Ittihad will meet at home Deba (#11) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Al Taawoun will play against Al Ahli in Jeddah and looks forward to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Al Taawoun: D.Gilmore 36+1reb+1ast, M.Loncar 22+18reb+2ast, A.Alwaleed 11+4reb, K.Mahmoud 9+6reb+4ast, B.Murad 9+3reb+3ast, A.Omar 0
Ittihad: J.Edwards Jr. 27+4reb+3ast, F.Abdulrahman 25+6reb+1ast, L.Williams 19+11reb, M.Almarwani 14+9reb+5ast, M.AlMarwani 8+3reb+1ast, I.Mustafa 3

Al Safa - Al Fateh 102-97

There was an upset in Safwa where higher ranked Al Fateh (7-6) was defeated by tenth ranked Al Safa (4-9) 102-97 on Friday. Al Safa forced 22 Al Fateh turnovers. Strangely Al Fateh outrebounded Al Safa 40-21 including a 30-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. American guard Dallas Morgan (185, college: CMU) scored 34 points (!!!), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals to lead the charge for the winners and Ali Alahmed chipped in 22 points during the contest. Four Al Safa players scored in double figures. American forward Antonio Campbell (206-1994, college: Ohio) responded with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 16 rebounds and American-Dominican forward Edgar Sosa (189-1988, college: Louisville) scored 31 points. Al Fateh's coach George Geagea rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Al Safa moved-up to ninth place. Loser Al Fateh dropped to the sixth position with six games lost. Al Safa will meet higher ranked Al Salam (#8) in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. Al Fateh will play against Al Khaleej and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Al Fateh: E.Sosa 31+3reb+2ast, A.Campbell 22+16reb+1ast, A.Fairley 20+4reb, A.Ali 8+2reb+3ast, A.Saad 7, M.Al-Saquer 6+11reb+5ast
Al Safa: D.Morgan 34+5reb+4ast, A.Ali 22+3reb+2ast, A.Hassan 13+3reb+2ast, D.Dixson 12+3reb+4ast, A.Musab 8+1reb, J.Friday 6+5reb+2ast

Al Khaleej - Al Salam 75-95

The game between closely ranked teams ended with eighth ranked Al Salam's (6-8) road victory over 9th ranked Al Khaleej (4-10) 95-75 on Friday. Al Salam dominated down low during the game scoring 50 of its points in the paint compared to Al Khaleej's 24. Al Salam forced 20 Al Khaleej turnovers. American swingman Brandon Spearman (191-1991, college: Hawaii) had a double-double by scoring 37 points (!!!), 11 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the charge for the winners and American-Bahrain Wayne Chism (206-1987, college: Tennessee) chipped in 24 points and 19 rebounds during the contest. Spearman is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Derek Cedor responded with 27 points and Congolese-French forward Nobel Boungou-Colo (202-1988) scored 15 points and 6 rebounds. Al Khaleej's coach rotated ten players seeing no chance for a win. Al Salam have a solid three-game winning streak. They maintain eighth position with 6-8 record. Al Khaleej lost third consecutive game. Newly promoted team dropped to the tenth place with ten games lost. Al Salam will meet at home Al Safa (#9) in the next round. Al Khaleej will play against Al Fateh in Al Hasa and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Al Khaleej: C.Derek 27+2reb+2ast, N.Boungou-Colo 15+6reb+3ast, M.Almutairi 9+7reb+2ast, J.Farr 9+10reb+1ast, A.Al-Darweesh 7+2reb, A.Mosa 4+6reb+1ast
Al Salam: B.Spearman 37+11reb+4ast, W.Chism 24+19reb+3ast, A.Bader 17+1reb+1ast, Y.Fallatah 6+4reb+4ast, A.Khalid 6+3reb, A.Hadi 3+1reb+1ast

Ohod - Al Nassr 104-93

The most important game in the last round took place in Medina between second ranked Al Nassr (11-2) and sixth ranked Ohod (8-5) on Friday night. Al Nassr was defeated by Ohod on the road 104-93. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Al Nassr. They outrebounded Al Nassr 47-27 including a 35-21 advantage in defensive rebounds. Ohod looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists. The game was dominated by American players. The best player for the winners was guard Jonathon Simmons (198-1989, college: Houston) who had a double-double by scoring 27 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists. Center Henry Sims (208-1990, college: Georgetown) chipped in a double-double by scoring 23 points and 10 rebounds. Guard PJ Hardy (185-1998, college: Louisiana) produced 29 points and 9 assists and Carlton Bragg Jr (208-1995, college: N.Mexico) added 20 points and 7 rebounds respectively for the guests. Five Ohod and four Al Nassr players scored in double figures. Ohod moved-up to fifth place. Al Nassr at the other side keeps the second position with two games lost. Ohod are looking forward to face higher ranked Al Hilal (#4) in Riyadh in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. Al Nassr will play at home against Al Wehda and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Al Nassr: P.Hardy 29+3reb+9ast, C.Bragg Jr. 20+7reb+1ast, K.Musab 17+4reb+1ast, T.Almuhanna 16+2reb+4ast, A.Jallas Nasser 6+9reb+5ast, P.Purifoy 5+2reb
Ohod: J.Simmons 27+15reb+4ast, H.Sims 23+10reb+2ast, A.Abdulaziz 13+7reb+8ast, S.Mohammad 13+5reb+5ast, A.Alhosawi 13+4reb+1ast, D.Deng 10+5reb+1ast

Al Wehda - Al Hilal 85-101

Rather expected game in Mecca where 7th ranked Al Wehda (7-7) was defeated by fourth ranked Al Hilal (10-3) 101-85 on Friday. Al Hilal looked well-organized offensively handing out 34 assists comparing to just 17 passes made by Al Wehda's players. American guard Antwan Scott (185-1992, college: Colorado St.) had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 12 assists to lead the charge for the winners and the former international center Mohammed Alsuwailem (211-1998) chipped in 14 points, 21 rebounds and 4 blocks during the contest. Al Hilal's coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American guard Donte McGill (190-1995, college: FIU, agency: Green Sports Management) responded with 30 points (was perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line) and Senegalese-Spanish power forward Mamadou Samb (210-1989) produced a double-double by scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds. Five Al Hilal and four Al Wehda players scored in double figures. Al Hilal moved-up to third place, which they share with Al Ahli. Al Wehda lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the seventh position with seven games lost. Al Hilal will meet at home Ohod (#5) in the next round. Al Wehda will play against the league's second-placed Al Nassr in Riyadh and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Al Wehda: D.McGill 30+2reb+2ast, M.Samb 18+11reb+1ast, B.Abdulmajeed 15+8reb+5ast, A.Mohammed 12+3reb+3ast, B.Hussam 4+6reb+4ast, A.Ayob 3+4reb+1ast
Al Hilal: A.Scott 27+4reb+12ast, K.McDaniels 17+1reb+2ast, A.Mohammed 14+21reb+2ast, N.Alabsi 13+1reb+5ast, O.Albargawi 13+8reb+6ast, D.Walton 12+3reb+7ast