February 7th Recaps:
11am - The first game of the day saw the #5 seed Ikhlas team faceoff against the #3 seed Takathur team in a match-up where Takathur led majority of the game. Ikhlas was without their all-star point guard Zamam Khan, who was sidelined with a minor ankle injury. Takathur, which are known to be the Memphis Grizzlies of the league, saw consistent all around efforts from the entire roster. Alhussein Gillani led the way in scoring with 14 points, while going 4/5 from deep. The defensive anchor of the team, Hussain Shivji, finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go with a steal. Takathur saw four players score in double digits. The big 3 of Ikhlas combined for 47 of the teams 52 points. Andrew Motta and Zakariya Tmj Khan led the way with 16 points each. Chad Mondesir ended with a double-double as he finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Final score was 60-52.
12pm - Falaq topped Kursi in a game that had a lot of promise. The game started out 15-0 in favor of Falaq because of technical free throws and a late start, but Kursi slowly chipped away on that lead. At one point, the game was definitely in reach for Kursi but a few missed layups enabled Falaq to run away with the game. Ahsan Mahmood and Nathan Campbell both led the way for Falaq with 18 points. While Sherif Shehata showed signs of his prime as he knocked down 4 big 3 pointers that sealed the game. Soban Ali led the way for Kursi with 15 points and 9 rebounds. If Kursi showed up on time to avoid the technical free-throws, this game could have gone either way. Final score was 60-47.
1pm – Adiyat defeated Fatiha in a game that went down to the wire. The newly acquired forward Shane Reece proved to be too much for Fatiha as he finished the game with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Louis Moore followed up with 9 points and 3 rebounds as well. Jawad Khalid, who scored 12 points, and Waseem Manigat who had 10 points, led Fatiha in scoring. Arsalan Jamil provided great leadership for Fatiha down the stretch but it just wasn’t enough as Adiyat ran away with it late in the game. Fatiha could definitely make a deep playoff run if Jamil can remain healty. Final score was 50-44.
2pm – Zilzal defeated Asr in a huge comeback win which now places Zilzal at 3rd place in the Tier 2 standings. The game started out with Uzair Danish scoring all 12 of his points within the first 5 minutes of the game. At first, Zilzal could not seem to find the basket, as the score was 20-6 with only a few minutes left in the first half. After a crucial timeout, Zilzal regrouped and went on a 10-2 run to finish the half. Asr failed to get their best player Uzair Danish involved in the second half and seemed lost on offence. Zilzal turned up the pace and finished the half outscoring Asr 32-12, as the final score was 34-48. Ammar Hakim had a career high of 11 points alongside 6 rebounds. This was the first time in his 3-year career where Hakin saw double-digit points. Fareed Cheema also provided a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Cheema provides elite fantasy value as he is now top-3 in scoring, rebounding and MVP votes and also leads the league in 3PM and FT%. Uzair Danish led Asr as he had 12 points and 2 rebounds.
3pm – The match of the day (or Superbowl before the Superbowl) saw Qariyah come back and defeat Tamjeed with a final score of 62-55. Tamjeed lead for majority of the game as they were up by 13 with 9 minutes left in the match. Saad Ahmad, the leagues scoring leader was struggling offensively so he looked to his teammates for support. Rohan Mohammed Ghori definitely did not disappoint as he was worth the price of admission. Once down 13, Qariyah started to chip away Tamjeed’s lead with a big plays from Adam Muse, Saad Ahmad and Rohan Mohammed Ghori. Tamjeed’s zone defense was not working in the second half as Ghori knocked down 3 pointers from FIBA distance. Some say Ghori’s performance was very reminiscent to Seth Curry’s game, the younger brother of Steph. Ghori led Qariyah with 20 points and 4 rebounds while going 6/8 from deep. Abdullah Alzoubi, Saad Ahmad, and Salman Rauf all scored in double digits as well.
Sheehan Morgan had a great game as he finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds, while Jason Wray followed up with 14 points and 7 rebounds. With an undefeated 9-0 record, Qariyah’s Saad Ahmad surely is the league MVP up till this point even though MVP votes have Jamal Khan (4-5) at top. Interesting to see who will defeat Qariyah…
4pm – Al-Masad cruised past Inshirah with the final score of 73-31. Inshirah was without their star duo Reyhan Choudhury and Deen Choudhury and also without their veteran leader Teepu Khawaja. Onofre Arias led the way for Inshirah with 10 of the teams 31 points alongside 5 rebounds. Zakir Ali chipped in with 9 points and 4 rebounds as well. Mahmoud Salama and Masuud Issa led the way for Al-Masad with 15 points each. Adnan Kahwaji, Ridwan Al-Nachawati and Masuud Issa each finished the game with double-doubles as the team finished with 52 rebounds. The loss of Tremell Mayers places Masuud Issa as the teams top scorer as he has averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds in the last two games.
