January 25th - Week Nine

Ikhlas defeated Adiyat by a 57-37 final score riding a big game fromZakariya Tmj Khan who led his team with 18 points, Brandon Augustinehad a strong game with 12 points in support. Adiyat have seen the wheels come off lately losing four of their last five games after opening the season with a four game undefeated streak. Nouraiz Akbar led them with 11 points but they need much more. Saurabh Acharya was missing this day and it showed as he has become a big part of their offense lately.

Tamjeed won 53-36 over Takathur as they used their full roster of 10 players against Takathur with no subs and wore them down. A balanced scoring effort and a 42-24 advantage on the boards were the difference. Takathur were led by Faizal Merali and Khalfan Abdul Majid Khalfan who each finished with 12 points but the absence of Hussain Shivji andAlhussein Gillani showed.

Zilzal defeated Kawthar 65-51 in an unconvincing win considering Kawthar had no subs and were missing key players. Zilzal was led by Rizwan Ranawith 21 points while Fareed Cheema added 17 points. Kawthar was led bySaad Ali with 24 points and Farhad Khan with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Fatiha demolished Ma'un by a 68-32 final score. Ma'un was missing guardsArsalan Jamil and Jawad Khalid but it didn't show as they used their size advantage to pound the ball in the paint, the 38-19 advantage on the boards showed their post dominance. Fatiha was led by Waseem Manigat with 18 points while Ma'un was led by Jamal Khan with 9 points. Fatiha made a point to send varying double teams to limit Khan who went into the game as the league's leading scorer and their strategy worked as the disruption was enough to even throw off Ahmed Khalid and Moazzam Sheikh who were not given much space to work or fast break opportunities.

Nas defeated Asr by a 50-37 score in a game that was closer than it should have been. Nas was playing without Sanel Sehic and a short bench to start the game, an issue compounded by some early foul trouble which allowed Asr to take the lead and hold it for much of the first half. JamalSaugaCity Bundy Douglas led Nas in scoring with 16 points but it was Yoosrie Salhia who turned the game for Nas as when he arrived (late) it changed the game with Asr not being able to drive as easily and having to work harder for rebounds. Salhia finished with 9 points & 11 rebounds in a solid effort. Asr was led by Uzair Danish with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Poor free throw shooting hurt Asr as they shot 9 for 23 from the line as a team. The game ended with 6th Man of the Year Candidate (if we actually had that award) Yasin Douglas throwing down a big dunk.

Falaq defeated Kursi 65-58 in a surprisingly close game. Falaq was led by Nathan Campbell with 29 points while Ahsan Mahmood finished with 20 points. Kursi started the game with no subs and had to drag Mohamud Bashir out of retirement (he put up 7 points in his return). Kursi was led by Hossam Refaei and Sherif Shehata who each finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Shehata never gave up on the game and Salman (Raheem Portis) Elmi added 10 points and 10 rebounds in a breakout game for the youngster.