SBL Round 2: Al Ahly hand first defeat to Al Hilal

There were only 2 rounds played so far and it's still very beginning of the Regular Season in SBL. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Al Hilal in Riyadh on Thursday night. Hosts were defeated by Al Ahly 96-81. The best player for the winners was American forward Devin Ebanks (206-1989, college: WVU) who had a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!) and 13 rebounds. The former international point guard Marzouq Almuwallad (180-1992) chipped in 21 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Al Ahly's coach used an eleven-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American power forward Clinton Chapman (208-1989, college: Texas) produced a double-double by scoring 25 points and 11 rebounds for the hosts.
Another exciting game was played in Mecca between Al Nasr and Al Wehda where Al Nasr beat Al Wehda on the road 68-62. The game was dominated by American players. Forward Antonio Campbell (206-1994, college: Ohio) orchestrated the victory by scoring 7 points and 23 rebounds. Brandon Austin contributed with 22 points, 6 assists and 7 steals for the winners. Guard Brian Halums (196-1997, college: UAFS) replied with 19 points and 8 rebounds for Al Wehda.
Very important is a road loss of Al Ansar against Al Salam on Friday night. Visiting Al Ansar was crushed by Al Salam in Al-Awamiyah 96-72. The game was also dominated by American players. Nick Stover had a double-double by scoring 30 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the charge for the winners. Al Salam's coach felt very confident that he used entire bench and allowed the starting five to rest. Gerard Tarin responded with a double-double by scoring 32 points and 16 rebounds.

Rest of the games of round 2 were quite predictable and ended without any surprises. Here they are:
bottom-ranked Ohod defeated Al Ittihad in Medina 86-85. Al-Taawon beat Duba Club at home 92-82. Winless Al Adalh lost to undefeated Al Fateh on the opponent's court 64-90.
The best stats of 2nd round was 22 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists by Mohamed Harat of Al Fateh.

Al Hilal - Al Ahly 81-96

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Al Hilal in Riyadh on Thursday night. Hosts were defeated by Al Ahly 96-81. The best player for the winners was American forward Devin Ebanks (206-1989, college: WVU) who had a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!) and 13 rebounds. The former international point guard Marzouq Almuwallad (180-1992) chipped in 21 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Al Ahly's coach used an eleven-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American power forward Clinton Chapman (208-1989, college: Texas) produced a double-double by scoring 25 points and 11 rebounds and his fellow American import guard Mark Lyons (185-1989, college: Arizona) added 28 points and 5 rebounds respectively for the hosts. Four Al Hilal players scored in double figures.
Top scorers:
Al Ahly: D.Ebanks 36+13reb+3ast, M.Almuwallad 21+5reb+7ast, D.Liggins 20+7reb+4ast, M.Abdulrahman 5, K.Mohammed 4+1reb, S.Mohammed 4+5reb+1ast
Al Hilal: M.Lyons 28+5reb+3ast, C.Chapman 25+11reb+1ast, O.Albargawi 12+3reb+1ast, N.Alabsi 11+2reb+4ast, M.Abdulrahman 2+2reb, H.Zakaria 2+7reb+1ast

Al Wehda - Al Nasr 62-68

Another exciting game was played in Mecca between Al Nasr and Al Wehda where Al Nasr beat Al Wehda on the road 68-62. Al Nasr forced 19 Al Wehda turnovers. The game was dominated by American players. Forward Antonio Campbell (206-1994, college: Ohio) orchestrated the victory by scoring 7 points and 23 rebounds. Swingman Brandon Austin (198-1994, college: NW Florida St.) contributed with 22 points, 6 assists and 7 steals for the winners. Guard Brian Halums (196-1997, college: UAFS) replied with 19 points and 8 rebounds and forward Justin Everett (206-1996, college: Humboldt St.) added 13 points and 12 rebounds in the effort for Al Wehda.
Top scorers:
Al Nasr: B.Austin 22+4reb+6ast, T.Almuhanna 15+3reb, K.Musab 12+4reb+2ast, A.Campbell 7+23reb+3ast, J.Al Kabe 6+3reb+1ast, H.Al Mohammed 2+1reb+1ast
Al Wehda: B.Halums 19+8reb+2ast, J.Everett 13+12reb+2ast, M.AlMarwani 10+16reb+1ast, B.Husam 6+4reb+3ast, Q.Alaa 6+2reb+2ast, A.Mohammed 5+2reb+1ast

Al Ittihad - Ohod 85-86

But Al Ittihad was not able to use a home court advantage and was edged by the opponent from Medina 86-85 on Friday night. Ohod looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. American forward Jordan Washington (203-1993, college: Iona, agency: Interperformances) had a double-double by scoring 23 points, 19 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and the other American import point guard Tyrik Armstrong (178, college: Texas Southern, agency: MSG) chipped in 22 points and 8 assists during the contest. Serbian-Montenegrin forward Milko Bjelica (207-1984, agency: BIG) responded with a double-double by scoring 26 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists and Tunisian point guard Omar Abada (189-1993) produced a double-double by scoring 26 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures.
Top scorers:
Ohod: J.Washington 23+19reb+6ast, T.Armstrong 22+3reb+8ast, S.Mohammad 19+4reb+1ast, N.Abojalas 17+6reb+1ast, A.Ahmed 3+1reb, A.Mohammed 2+2reb+3ast
Al Ittihad: O.Abada 26+8reb+10ast, M.Bjelica 26+14reb+6ast, M.Almarwani 13+2reb+1ast, A.Yasir 13+1reb+5ast, A.Abdullah 4+1reb, A.Abdelmalek 3+3reb+4ast

Al Salam - Al Ansar 96-72

Very important is a road loss of Al Ansar against Al Salam on Friday night. Visiting Al Ansar was crushed by Al Salam in Al-Awamiyah 96-72. Al Salam made 22-of-25 free shots (88.0 percent) during the game. Al Salam outrebounded Al Ansar 51-36 including a 39-22 advantage in defensive rebounds. The game was also dominated by American players. Forward Nick Stover (198-1993, college: USA) had a double-double by scoring 30 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the charge for the winners and center Anthony McClain (211-1988, college: Cincinnati) chipped in 15 points and 24 rebounds during the contest. Stover is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Four Al Salam players scored in double figures. Al Salam's coach felt very confident that he used entire bench and allowed the starting five to rest. Forward Gerard Tarin (206-1996, college: Nova SE) responded with a double-double by scoring 32 points and 16 rebounds and guard Daishon Knight (185-1991, college: Illinois St., agency: BIG) scored 22 points and 5 rebounds.
Top scorers:
Al Salam: N.Stover 30+13reb+5ast, A.McClain 15+24reb+2ast, A.Hadi 15+3reb+1ast, A.Bader 11+1reb+1ast, I.Mohammed 8+2reb+1ast, H.Alnamer 7+4reb+4ast
Al Ansar: G.Tarin 32+16reb+2ast, D.Knight 22+5reb+3ast, I.Mustafa 8+7reb+2ast, S.Khaled 6+3reb+1ast, A.Abdullah 3+1reb+1ast, A.Salman 1+3reb+3ast

Al-Taawon - Duba Club 92-82

Al-Taawon used a home court advantage and defeated the opponent from Tabuk 92-82 on Friday night. Serbian power forward Aleksandar Marelja (207-1992, agency: BeoBasket) scored 32 points and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and American guard Darious Clark (193-1990, college: Slippery Rock, agency: Domantay Sports) chipped in 21 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists during the contest. Clark is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top summer league for players who want to play basketball overseas. Four Al-Taawon players scored in double figures. Ukrainian center Vladyslav Koreniuk (210-1994, agency: BIG) responded with a double-double by scoring 25 points and 14 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) and American guard Unique McLean (188, college: SFC, agency: Blacktop Management) scored 32 points.
Top scorers:
Al-Taawon: A.Marelja 32+4reb+6ast, D.Clark 21+9reb+8ast, A.Ahmad 18+8reb+3ast, A.Mustafa 15+7reb, A.Ehab 3+2reb, A.Abdullah 3+2reb+2ast
Duba Club: U.McLean 32+3reb+2ast, V.Koreniuk 25+14reb+2ast, A.Abdullah 16+1reb+4ast, S.Rashad 8+8reb+3ast, K.Mahmoud 1+4reb, H.Hisham 0+2reb+1ast

Al Fateh - Al Adalh 90-64

Rather expected game in Al Hasa where Al Adalh was rolled over by Al Fateh 90-64 on Friday. Al Fateh outrebounded Al Adalh 58-35 including a 16-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 27 assists comparing to just 11 passes made by Al Adalh's players. Algerian forward Mohamed Harat (198-1990) had a double-double by scoring 22 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and Mohammed Alsaqer chipped in 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists during the contest. Four Al Fateh players scored in double figures. Russian forward Andrey Semenov (200-1990, college: JMU) responded with a double-double by scoring 21 points and 13 rebounds and Tunisian swingman Islem Elajmi (196-1991) scored 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games.
Top scorers:
Al Fateh: M.Harat 22+23reb+6ast, A.Mohammed 16+7reb+6ast, R.Camphor 15+4reb+4ast, A.Saqer Khalid 14+5reb, A.Moussaad Mohamad 9+1reb+1ast, A.Hesham 5+3reb+6ast
Al Adalh: I.Elajmi 22+7reb+4ast, A.Semenov 21+13reb+1ast, A.Moayad 11+6reb, A.Omran 8+5reb, S.Mahmoud 1+2reb+4ast, A.Almuwallad 1+1reb



Tags : DEVIN EBANKS, AL AHLY JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIAN BASKETBALL