| Hear the Lion Roar |
May 28, 2007 |
Or at least, that's what Duha's Mohammed Saleh would like us to believe he is. He did play like the King of the Jungle in this game though, at least in the 1st half punishing Nasr's interior defenders. But he just one man, and Nasr seemed to be able to hold the rest of his team at bay. Nasr started the game with an easy lay-up by Camran as Wayne easily won the jumpball. Later, Wayne had two consecutive steals in the game's first 3 minutes but his teammates were unable to convert on easy buckets either time. With big men like the Saleh brothers who throw their size around and athletic bigs like Wayne, their opposing styles were bound to give rise to friction. This played out at the 5:00 mark as Mohammed Saleh was called for an intentional foul on Wayne for pushing him in the back on made basket, without a play on the ball. Unfortunately for Nasr, Wayne was unable to convert on either his And-1 FT or his 2 technical FTs. Mohammed Saleh was a beast on the boards and Duha was playing smart, feeding him on the block; he managed to tie the game at 17-17 at 11:00 off of 2 free throws.
Duha then got its 2nd technical of the game as Mohammed Ismail entered the game but without the proper I-Slam shirt; luckily for them though, Ibrahim missed both FTs and was unable to build on his team's 19-17 lead. Nasr started to roll soon afterward and was capped by Wayne's dunk and made FT to put them up 24-17 at 16:20. The half ended sloppily for Duha as Yassir made a steal with 10 seconds remaining, but then had it stolen back by Nasr's Ibrahim who fed Rami and was promptly fouled at the buzzer. During halftime, Rami made 1-2 FTs to give his team the 29-23 lead. Nasr was lead at the half by Camran with 10 points and Wayne with 9 points while Duha was powered by Mohammed Saleh's 7 points and 10 rebounds.
Shortly into the 2nd half, Ibrahim picked up his 2nd offensive foul at the 1:37 mark, followed by 2 quick steals by Duha's Mohammed Ismail within the 2nd half's first 2 minutes, helped Duha climb back into the game (not that they were out of it). Duha was helped soon after as Wayne picked up his 4th foul at the 3:31 mark and was forced to sub off very early. All these events, plus a Rameez 3-pointer at the 3:30 mark gave Duha the 30-29 lead. At 6:10, a rare 4 point play was made after Nasr's Kadva was fouled on a made 3-pointer giving his team the 33-32 lead. This play seemed to spark his team as Duha was forced to call a timeout at 7:25 down 37-32, immediately after another Kadva resulting from a Rami steal. After the timeout, Duha regrouped and score 5 points in a row capped by Jeff's 3-point play tying the game 37-37.
Nasr's foul troubles added up and Duha found themselves shooting bonus FTs as early as the 9:47 mark. This game was back and forth throughout; Rameez hit a 2-pointer to again tie the game at 39-39 at the 12:15 mark, followed by another basket by Farhan Abdi to give his team a 41-39 lead. Nasr was forced to call a timeout at 14:57 down 45-41. Luckily for Nasr, they too found themselves shooting penalty FTs relatively early at the 15:40 mark and Camran was able to hit on both of his to bring his team within 43-45. At the 18:40 mark, Ibrahim had another chance at free throws, this time to cut into Duha's 48-45 lead but was unable to hit on the front end of his bonus FTs. Duha ran into more trouble as big man Jeff fouled out at the 19:21 mark, and Ibrahim managed to finally hit meaningful FTs, converting on both to bring his team to within 47-48. Nasr called their final timeout at the 19:50 mark with Duha up 48-47 after Abdul Bari missed the front end of his 1-and-1 bonus shot and the chance to put his team up by 3. Nasr was unable to convert coming out of their timeout and ended up fouling Duha at 00:02 after Rami's missed drive to the basket. Mohammed Saleh hit 1-2 FTs and Nasr missed their lob attempt at the buzzer.
Duha wins this tight game 49-47 and gets to face Ash-Shams in the 1st round while Nasr gets Quraysh. |
