SBL Round 9 (Regular Season): Al Khaleej win their first game

SBL is at the halfway of the Regular Season and there are still another 9 rounds left. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Al Khaleej can celebrate finally their first win this season after eight consecutive losses. They used home court advantage to defeat Ohod (1-8) 97-67 on Friday. Al Khaleej dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Ohod's 34. They outrebounded Ohod 50-30 including a 37-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. Al Khaleej looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. The best player for the winners was who had a double-double by scoring 21 points, 24 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks. American point guard Kaleb Thornton (183-1999, college: Akron) chipped in 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Al Khaleej's coach Albechir Al-asmi felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the other side the best for losing team was Ahmed Obaidi who recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds. Al Khaleej left bottom position moving up to eighth place, which they share with Ohod and Al Khewaildia. It was Ohod's fifth loss in a row. Al Khaleej is looking forward to face higher ranked Al Fateh (#6) in Al Hasa in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Ohod will play at home against Al Nasr (#3) and is hoping to win this game.
Undefeated leader Al-Ula delivered the ninth consecutive victory. This time they crushed 6th ranked Mudhar (4-5) 113-75. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Mudhar. It was a good game for Australian-South Sudanese center Thon Maker (216-1997) who led his team to a victory with a triple-double by scoring 24 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists. Jonathan Gibson contributed with 31 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the winners. Nigerian center Jason Jitoboh (211-2001, college: Tennessee St., agency: JCK Sports Group) answered with a double-double by scoring 26 points and 10 rebounds for Mudhar. Undefeated Al-Ula (9-0) have an impressive series of nine victories in a row. They maintain first place with a perfect record of 9 victories in a row. Newly promoted Mudhar dropped to the fifth position with five games lost. They share it with Al Fateh and Al Salam. Al-Ula will play against Al Salam (#7) in Al-Awamiyah in the next round which should be theoretically another easy game. Mudhar will play at home against the league's second-placed Al Ahli and hopes to get back on the winning track.

In the last two games of round 9 Al Khewaildia was defeated by Al Nasr in Riyadh 87-69. Al Fateh was beaten by Al Salam at home 79-83.



Al Khaleej - Ohod 97-67

Al Khaleej can celebrate finally their first win this season after eight consecutive losses. They used home court advantage to defeat Ohod (1-8) 97-67 on Friday. Al Khaleej dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Ohod's 34. They outrebounded Ohod 50-30 including a 37-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. Al Khaleej looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. The best player for the winners was Lino Manhom who had a double-double by scoring 21 points, 24 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks. American point guard Kaleb Thornton (183-1999, college: Akron) chipped in 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Al Khaleej's coach Albechir Al-asmi felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the other side the best for losing team was Ahmed Obaidi who recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds and added 15 points and 7 rebounds respectively. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Al Khaleej left bottom position moving up to eighth place, which they share with Ohod and Al Khewaildia. It was Ohod's fifth loss in a row. Al Khaleej is looking forward to face higher ranked Al Fateh (#6) in Al Hasa in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Ohod will play at home against Al Nasr (#3) and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Ohod: O.Ahmed 16+7reb+1ast, A.Sultan 15+7reb+2ast, F.Abdulrahman 11+7reb+4ast, A.Mohammed 10+5reb+1ast, A.Mohammad 7+4reb+1ast, A.Majed 4
Al Khaleej: T.Kaleb 29+7reb+4ast, L.Manhom 21+24reb+6ast, I.Entaif 17+5reb+1ast, A.Al-Darweesh 12+1reb+1ast, A.Alzurayqi 7+4reb+10ast, M.Al-Hezam 7+6reb+1ast

Al Nasr - Al Khewaildia 87-69

There was no surprise in Riyadh where 9th ranked Al Khewaildia (1-8) was defeated by third ranked Al Nasr (7-2) 87-69. Al Nasr dominated down low during the game scoring 64 of its points in the paint compared to Al Khewaildia's 36. Al Nasr players were unselfish on offense dishing 26 assists. It was a good game for American swingman Brandon Austin (198-1994, college: NW Florida St., agency: Olsta) who led his team to a victory with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Nasser Jallas contributed with a double-double by scoring 14 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. American forward Keondre Jackson (203, college: Clayton St.) answered with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 12 rebounds and the other American import point guard Kaleb Thornton (183-1999, college: Akron) added 13 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists in the effort for Al Khewaildia. Al Nasr maintains third place with 7-2 record having just two points less than leader Al-Ula. Al Khewaildia lost fourth consecutive game. They dropped to the eighth position with eight games lost. They share it with Ohod and Al Khaleej. Al Nasr will play against bottom-ranked Ohod (#10) in Medina in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Al Khewaildia will play on the road against Al Ittihad in Jeddah to get more than just one victory in their record.
Top scorers:
Al Khewaildia: K.Jackson 22+12reb+2ast, A.Abass 17+7reb+3ast, S.Ibrahima 13+13reb+4ast, S.Ahmed 6+1reb+1ast, S.Mohammed 4+2reb+4ast, A.Ahmed 3+2reb+1ast
Al Nasr: A.Brandon 25+9reb+5ast, N.Jallas 14+14reb+4ast, T.Mohammed 10, M.Kadi 10+8reb+1ast, A.Abdulla 8+4reb+1ast, H.Bailey 7+1reb+12ast

Al Fateh - Al Salam 79-83

There was a small surprise in Al Hasa where seventh ranked Al Salam (4-5) defeated 5th ranked Al Fateh (4-5) 83-79. Al Salam made 22-of-26 charity shots (84.6 percent) during the game. They also forced 20 Al Fateh turnovers. It was a good game for American forward Alex Young (198-1989, college: IUPUI) who led his team to a victory with 28 points and 5 assists. Reda Al-matroud contributed with 18 points and 4 steals for the winners. Serbian center Lazar Nekic (213-1999, college: LMU) answered with a double-double by scoring 25 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists and Senegalese-Spanish power forward Mamadou Samb (210-1989) added 15 points and 10 rebounds in the effort for Al Fateh. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Al Salam moved-up to fifth place, which they share with Al Fateh and Mudhar. Al Salam will play against league's leader Al-Ula in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Al Fateh will play against Al Khaleej (#8) and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Al Fateh: L.Nekic 25+12reb+9ast, M.Samb 15+10reb+2ast, A.Hesham 13+3reb+5ast, A.Ali 10+2reb+2ast, A.Hazim 6+5reb+1ast, A.Abdullah 6+1reb+1ast
Al Salam: Y.Alex 28+4reb+5ast, R.Al-matroud 18+4reb+1ast, A.Hani 11+6reb+2ast, N.Maodo 10+4reb, H.Stephen 9+8reb+3ast, H.Al-Darwish 5+2reb+1ast

Mudhar - Al-Ula 75-113

Undefeated leader Al-Ula delivered the ninth consecutive victory. This time they crushed 6th ranked Mudhar (4-5) 113-75. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of Mudhar. They outrebounded Mudhar 51-28 including a 18-2 advantage in offensive rebounds. Al-Ula players were unselfish on offense dishing 42 assists comparing to just 19 passes made by Mudhar's players. It was a good game for Australian-South Sudanese center Thon Maker (216-1997) who led his team to a victory with a triple-double by scoring 24 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists. American point guard Jonathan Gibson (188-1987, college: NM State) contributed with 31 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the winners. Four Al-Ula players scored in double figures. Nigerian center Jason Jitoboh (211-2001, college: Tennessee St., agency: JCK Sports Group) answered with a double-double by scoring 26 points and 10 rebounds and American guard Vante Hendrix (196-1998, college: CSUN, agency: BIG) added 18 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists in the effort for Mudhar. Al-Ula (9-0) have an impressive series of nine victories in a row. They maintain first place with a perfect record of 9 victories in a row. Newly promoted Mudhar dropped to the fifth position with five games lost. They share it with Al Fateh and Al Salam. Al-Ula will play against Al Salam (#7) in Al-Awamiyah in the next round which should be theoretically another easy game. Mudhar will play at home against the league's second-placed Al Ahli and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Mudhar: J.Jitoboh 26+10reb+1ast, V.Hendrix 18+9reb+9ast, A.Mosa 12+2reb+4ast, A.Abdullah 8+1reb+1ast, A.Alhassan 8+6reb+4ast, A.Ali 3
Al-Ula: G.Jonathan 31+7reb+7ast, M.Thon 24+18reb+10ast, M.Alsaqer 19+10reb+15ast, A.Aljezani 15+1reb+2ast, M.Alsuwailem 8+2reb+1ast, M.Saleh 6+5reb+1ast