| When Champions Collide |
Jun 10, 2008 |
Coming into this season, who would’ve thought that the past two I-slam Championship winners would hook up in a first round playoff game? With a first round game of this magnitude, it says a lot about the parity and competitiveness of this past season. But even with the parity this season, both these teams had mediocre seasons, and put themselves in this difficult position.
Ash Shams had something to prove as they looked to make up for their disappointing regular season in the post season. And they got some much needed help from the players of Al Fil, as 3 of their starters were assessed Technical fouls for not bringing their team jerseys. That meant 6 free throws for Ash Shams to start the game, and Donovan Gayle successfully hit all 6 to give Ash Shams a nice cushion to start the game.
With a 6-0 lead, Ash Shams literally played the Game of their life as they stormed out of the gate and never looked back. Mohamad Sayeed was the main reason for the team’s quick upstart, as he knocked down three 3 pointers in the first 6 minutes of the game! With 8 minutes into the half, Ash Shams shockingly was up 19-2! Al Fil was absolutely horrendous, and were forced to call a time out. As they looked to climb back in the game, they went to their familiar weapon in Mohammed Saleh, who tried to create some sort of momentum for his team. Despite his efforts, Ash Shams came right back, and scored on almost every possession. With the half coming to an end, Ash Shams held a comfortable lead as they were up 38-23.
As the second half got rolling, Ash Shams was coming at Al Fil with their full force. Sayeed and Amer Malik were lights out from the field. On the other hand, Al Fil suffered a complete collapse. At the ten minute mark, Ash Shams decided to switch sports as they displayed some of their football skills on the court. Off the inbound, Quarter backs Sayeed and Donovan had half a dozen plays where they threw the ball from their end of the court, to find wide receivers Amer Malik and Sameem Mirza for easy touchdowns- I mean layups. With 8 minutes remaining, Ash Shams were up by a remarkable 27 points. With time winding down, it was too little too late for the defending champions Al Fil. Al Fil could not find any sort of rhythm or momentum during the game, and it cost them dearly as they were ousted from competing for another championship. Ash shams delivered a superb game, as everyone on the team contributed. Sayeed and Amer led the way with 17 and 24 pts, while Al Fil was led by Hamilton and Saleh who chipped in 19 and 10 pts.
Ash Shams will now move on to face a fresh Sharh squad later on in the day, and will look for revenge as Sharh defeated them in their last regular season game. |
