A Thank You Note

After the third season of Old Timers Basketball League is officially over, I guess every Basketball's fan owns a special  gratitude for a great player who kept our dream of watching great game still alive, for keeping a meaning of what was once called "Great Jordanian Basketball".

Championship Game: Bank Audi vs Arab Potash Co.

Bank Audi started strong and took a 5-0 lead before Arab Potash got into the flow and scored 10 unanswered points. Scoring was back and forth by both teams before Arab Potash scored at the end of the quarter to take a 22-18 lead. In the second quarter, both teams played tougher defense as points were hard to get by and Bank Audi were able to win the quarter 14-12 and go into halftime trailing by only 2 points (32-34).

The third quarter was really competitive and neither team was able to go on any runs as we headed into the fourth quarter with Arab Potash leading 53-50. In the fourth quarter, Arab Potash went on a 15-2 run to start the quarter and never looked back to win the game and the championship 78-60.

Congratulations to Arab Potash Co.

Scorers:
Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 31 pts
Samer Issa 11 pts
Ali Farouki 4 pts
Khaled Quran 4 pts
Zaid Khair 4 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 4 pts
Hani Thalji 2 pts

Arab Potash Co.

Ihab Imseeh 28 pts

Fadi Yaghmour 23 pts

Raed Ghosheh 11 pts

Luay Dajani 10 pts

Mamdouh Younis 6 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Third Place Game: Zain vs Jordan Hospital

Despite a hot start by Jordan Hospital that saw them take a 9-0 lead in the first minutes of the game, but Zain came back quickly with some good shooting and fastbreaks to finish the quarter trailing 15-17. In the second quarter, the scoring picked up by both teams as players from both teams were hitting shot after shot to go into halftime with Zain leading 44-41.

The third quarter saw an offensive outburst by Zain as they scored 32 points compared to 11 points by Jordan Hospital while the fourth quarter saw Jordan Hospital fight back to cut a 28 point lead down to single digits before time ran out and Zain won the game (92-78).

Scorers:

Zain
Nihad Madi 45 pts
Kevin Thomas 18 pts
Sultan Abu Mariam 13 pts
Eyad Mohammad 8 pts
Faisal Nsour 5 pts
Osama Tarazi 3 pts

Jordan Hospital

Ahmad Bashir 28 pts

Tareq Abdallat 21 pts

Ameer Khateeb 14 pts

Osama Hamarneh 8 pts

Marwan Matouq 5 pts

Bassam Al Shami 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Game 3 of the 2nd semi-final: Zain vs Bank Audi

After falling behind early in games 1 and 2, Zain came out determined to keep the game close and not dig themselves a hole to climb out of. They were able to do just that as the first quarter was a back and forth battle and despite red hot shooting from Bank Audi (they hit 4 threes in the first quarter) but Zain kept it close as the first quarter ended with Bank Audi leading 25-23. In the second quarter, Bank Audi shooting cooled down a bit and Zain took advantage by going into half time with the score tied at 41-41.

In the third quarter, Bank Audi went back to their hot shooting as they hit 3 threes early on combined with a couple of fast break buckets to take a 15 points lead midway through the quarter. And after trading baskets for a few minutes, Zain went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 62-53 at the end of the third. Bank Audi started the fourth quarter with a three that increased the lead to 12 but Zain slowly cut into the lead and with less than 2 minutes to go the lead was only 2 points (73-71). That was the closest Zain would get as Bank Audi were able to hit key free throws to get away with a deserved win 79-75 to advance to the finals and play Arab Potash Co. for the title on Friday.

Scorers
Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 24 pts
Raed Owais 20 pts
Ali Farouki 14 pts
Khaled Quran 11 pts
Ziad Khair 5 pts
Hani Thalji 3 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 2 pts

Zain

Nihad Madi 28 pts

Faisal Nsour 21 pts

Eyad Mohammad 12 pts

Kevin Thomas 7 pts

Saliba Amash 6 pts

Bassam Qamhieh 1 pt

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Game 3 of the 1st semi-final Alcatel vs Arab Potash:

Arab Potash came out strong as they were determined to win the third and decisive game to reach the finals and they were able to take the first quarter 16-9. In the second quarter, Arab Potash continued their strong play and went into halftime leading 44-22.

In the third quarter, Alcatel tried to fight back and they were able to cut the lead down to 14 before Arab Potash made another run to get the lead back up to 22 (57-35). The fourth and final quarter didn't bring anything new as the result of the game was already determined as Arab Potash advanced to the finals and will wait to see who they will play as they await the winner between Zain & Bank Audi.

Scorers:
Arab Potash:
Fadi Yaghmour 23 pts
Ihab Imseeh 14 pts
Tamer Nino 10 pts
Luay Dajani 10 pts
Mohd Razem 5 pts
Raed Ghosheh 4 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 3 pts
Abdallah Qtaishat 2 pts
Mamdouh Younis 2 pts

Alcatel

Keon Norris 13 pts

Fadi Saqqa 11 pts

Ramar Clash 8 pts

Saliba Amash 7 pts

Ben Reece 3 pts

Brett Weer 2 pts

Moutaz Husseini 1 pt

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Game 2 of the second semi-final: Zain vs Bank Audi

Bank Audi came out of the gates sizzling hot as they almost made every shot they took in the first quarter while Zain looked completely out of sync as the quarter ended with Bank Audi leading 31-9. In the

second quarter, Zain started their long comeback as they were able to win the quarter 18-11 and thus cut the lead down from 22 to 15.

In the third quarter, Zain continued their comeback early on and were able to cut the lead to single digits before a couple of untimely turnovers allowed Bank Audi to increase the lead back up to 16 (57-41). In the fourth quarter, Zain had one last run in them as they cut the lead again to single digits but they finally ran out of gas and Bank Audi were able to win the game (70-61).

Scorers:
Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 22 pts
Raed Owais 14 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 9 pts
Samer Issa 9 pts
Khaled Quran 6 pts
Zaid Khair 4 pts
Hani Thalji 3 pts
Ali Farouki 3 pts

Zain
Nihad Madi 17 pts
Kevin Thomas 16 pts
Sultan Abu Mariam 10 pts
Faisal Nsour 10 pts
Eyad Mohd 6 pts
Bassam Qamhieh 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page