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

Game 2 of the first semi-final: Alcatel vs Arab Potash

It was do or die for Alcatel as a loss meant they would go to play for third place while Arab Potash would go undefeated to play in the final, that's why Alcatel came out very focused and used nice ball movement and good shooting to take a 19-17 lead after one. In the second quarter, both teams stepped up their defense and baskets were hard to get by and even though Arab Potash tried to cut into Alcatel's lead but they couldn't do that as a three at the end of the quarter allowed Alcatel to go into the break leading 34-28.

In the third quarter, Arab Potash came out determined to show their level of play that allowed them to go undefeated in the league so far, and they were able to cut the lead down to only 3 at the end of the quarter (43-46). But in the fourth and final quarter, Alcatel just wanted the win more as they were able to take the quarter 23-16 and win the game 69-59

Scorers:
Arab Potash
Luay Dajani 14 pts
Ihab Imseeh 14 pts
Fadi Yaghmour 12 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 8 pts
Raed Ghosheh 7 pts
Mamdouh Younis 4 pts

Alcatel
Ramar Clash 25 pts
Fadi Saqqa 15 pts
Samer Qardan 10 pts
Saliba Amash 8 pts
Keon Norris 6 pts
Moutaz Husseini 5 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

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

A tale of two cities; this game saw one team dominate the first half and the other team dominate the second. In the first quarter, Bank Audi started strong as they were able to take a 16-13 lead after one. In the second quarter, Bank Audi continued their dominance early on and were able to build an 11 point lead midway through the quarter then Zain started their comeback and were able to cut the lead down to only 5 points (36-31).

In the third quarter, Zain continued their slow but steady comeback as their defense was much improved and they were able to cut further into the lead to go into the fourth quarter trailing by only 2 points (51-49). In the fourth and final quarter, Zain used an 8-2 run to open the quarter and take a 57-53 lead. But after a timeout, Bank Audi scored 4 unanswered points to tie the score at 57-57 with less than five minutes to go. A big basket by Zain created some separation and then it was a matter of can Zain make their free throws to get the win which they were able to do successfully and win the game 66-62.

Scorers:

Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 28 pts
Raed Owais 8 pts
Ali Farouki 6 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 6 pts
Zaid Khair 5 pts
Hani Thalji 5 pts
Samer Taha 2 pts
Khaled Qur'an 2 pts

Zain

Nihad Madi 22 pts

Faisal Nsour 12 pts

Sultan Abu Mariam 10 pts

Bassam Qamhieh 6 pts

Eyad MohamAd 6 pts

Sohaib Tawil 6 pTs

Kevin Thomas 4 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Game One of the 1st Semi-final: Alcatel vs Arab Potash

First semi-final game saw the number one seed Arab Potash take on the fourth seed Alcatel. The start of the game was very slow as both teams struggled to score and the first three minutes were scoreless. The first quarter was a low scoring one as Arab Potash scored 14 points compared to only 11 by Alcatel. The second quarter was a better scoring quarter but neither team was able to create a big lead as teams traded baskets equally to go into halftime with Arab Potash leading 34-31.

In the third quarter, Arab Potash got a big lead early in the quarter only to see Alcatel fight back and cut the lead back down to three points (48-45). In the fourth and final quarter, Alcatel were able to not just tie the score, but also to take the lead a few minutes into the quarter then there were 7 lead changes in the quarter before untimely free throw misses by Alcatel cost them game one of the semi-finals with Arab Potash winning 68-66.

Scorers:

Arab Potash
Fadi Yaghmour 26 pts
Ihab Imseeh 18 pts
Mamdouh Younis 9 pts
Luay Dajani 9 pts
Raed Ghosheh 3 pts
Abdallah Qtaishat 2 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 1 pt

Alcatel
Ramar Clash 17 pts
Keon Norris 12 pts
Fadi Saqqa 11 pts
Saliba Amash 10 pts
Ben Reece 7 pts
Moutaz Husseini 5 pts
Brett Weer 4 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Alcatel vs Arab Potash

Another amazing game in the Old Timers League, a game that witnessed big runs, hot shooting and a tip on a missed free throw to win the game!!!

In the first quarter, Alcatel came out hot as they were hitting from all angles to take a 25-17 lead at the end of one. In the second quarter, Arab Potash used a couple of mini runs to cut into Alcatel's lead and go into halftime trailing 38-45.

In the third quarter, Alcatel's hot shooting (4 threes in the quarter and 11 threes for the game) was met by Arab Potash's effective transition game as both teams scored at will to go into the fourth and final quarter with Alcatel leading 64-60. Alcatel maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter and they had a three point lead (75-72) with less than two minutes to go and then after a turnover, Arab Potash were able to cut it down to 75-74 with less than a minute to go. On the next possession, Alcatel turned the ball over, then fouled with 7 seconds to go. Arab Potash made the first free throw to tie the game at 75 each, then missed the second free throw but an unlikely tip was the winner for Arab Potash who came away with a come from behind win 77-75.

Scorers:

Arab Potash
Ihab Imseeh 26 pts
Fadi Yaghmour 20 pts
Tamer Nino 13 pts
Luay Dajani 9 pts
Mamdouh Younis 4 pts
Raed Ghosheh 3 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 2 pts

Alcatel

Fadi Saqqa 26 pts

Keon Norris 20 pts

Saliba Amash 13 pts

Ramar Clash 6 pts

Moutaz Husseini 3 pts

Ben Reece 3 pts

Issa Marto 2 pts

Brett Weer 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Jordan Hospital vs Bank Audi

Best offensive game of the league so far as both teams went on to hit 18 three pointers (8 for Bank Audi and 10 for Jordan Hospital). In the first quarter, Jordan Hospital came out strong as they build a 10 point lead to go to the second quarter leading 20-10. The hot shooting started in the second quarter as Jordan Hospital made 4 three pointers while Bank Audi made 3, still Bank Audi were able to cut the lead down to 8 as they went into halftime trailing 31-39.

The hot shooting continued in the third quarter but more in favor of Bank Audi as they hit 4 threes compared to 2 threes for Jordan Hospital. This resulted in Bank Audi mounting a huge comeback winning the quarter 28-18 which meant that Bank Audi would go into the fourth quarter leading 59-57. The final quarter was a very exciting quarter with both teams taking the lead several times before Bank Audi finally pulled away with a hard fought win (80-76).

Scorers:

Jordan Hospital
Ahmad Bashir 23 pts
Hussar Lutfi 22 pts
Ameer Khatib 15 pts
Tariq Abdallat 8 pts
Basem Hamdan 8 pts

Bank Audi 
Ghazi Naber 30 pts
Khalid Quran 12 pts
Raed Owais 11 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 9 pts
Ziad Khair 8 pts
Hani Thalji 8 pts
Michel Qaqish 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Zain vs Jordan Hospital

Zain started out hitting 2 straight three pointers but Jordan Hospital quickly answered with a couple of baskets to cut the lead down to 2 and this was the same deficit at the end of the quarter as Zain led 16-14 after one. In the second quarter, Jordan Hospital had their best quarter in the league this year as they scored 29 points while holding Zain to only 10 points to go into halftime leading 43-26.

In the third quarter, Zain tried to mount a comeback and even though they were able to score 24 points but they allowed Jordan Hospital to score 21 points. In the fourth and final quarter, Jordan Hospital took control of the game with a 20-12 quarter to win the game 84-62.

Scorers:
Jordan Hospital
Ahmad Bashir 26 pts
Alexy Gourgourinins 16 pts
Ameer Khateeb 13 pts
Osama Hamarneh 12 pts
Bassam Al Shami 11 pts
Tariq Abdallat 3 pts
Basem Hamdan 3 pts

Zain
Nihad Madi 32 pts
Faisal Nsour 14 pts
Sultan Abu Mariam 9 pts
Bassam Qamhieh 7 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Arab Potash vs Bank Audi

In the first quarter, it looked like Arab Potash would run away with this game as they were scoring at will while Bank Audi were struggling to score as the quarter ended with Arab Potash leading 19-9. In the second quarter, Bank Audi's offense came to life as they scored 19 points in the quarter cutting the lead down to 6 points (34-28).

In the third quarter, both teams struggled offensively even though Arab Potash held a slight advantage as they out scored Bank Audi 17-12 in the quarter to go to the four and final period leading 51-40. Bank Audi started the fourth quarter on a 13-3 run to cut the lead down to only 2 points with less than 3 minutes to go with the ball, but a missed three pointer and a fast break layup for Arab Potash shifted the momentum back to Arab Potash who went on a 9-4 run to get away with a 63-56 win.

Scorers:
Arab Potash
Ihab Imseeh 19 pts
Fadi Yaghmour 17 pts
Tamer Nino 8 pts
Raed Ghosheh 7 pts
Luay Dajani 6 pts
Mohd Razim 2 pts
Mamdouh Younis 2 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 2 pts

Bank Audi:
Khaled Quran 15 pts
Samer Issa 10 pts
Ghazi Naber 8 pts
Zaid Khair 8 pts
Hani Thalji 7 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 4 pts
Raed Owais 4 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Jordan Hospital vs Arab Potash Co.

It looked like both teams were affected by the cold weather to start the game as scoring was very low and both teams were missing more than they were making shots. The first quarter ended with Arab Potash leading 14 to 11. The second quarter was a pure defensive quarter as baskets were very hard to get by and both teams scored a combined 21 points in the quarter (13 for Jordan Hospital & 8 for Arab Potash).

In the third quarter, Arab Potash seemed to have found their scoring touch as they scored 25 points in the quarter (3 points more than they scored in the first half), while Jordan Hospital scored 17 which meant Arab Potash would go to the final quarter leading by 6 (47-41). In the fourth quarter, Jordan Hospital didn't threaten to get back into the game as they scored only 17 points giving the w to Arab Potash (68-58).

Scorers

Arab Potash Co.:
Fadi Yaghmour 19 pts
Mamdouh Younis 13 pts
Tamer Nino 13 pts
Luay Dajani 12 pts
Mohd Razem 5 pt
Raed Ghoseh 4 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 2 pts

Jordan Hospital:
Alexy Gourgourinins 14 pts
Ahmad Bashir 12 pts
Hussam Lutfi 11 pts
Ameer Khatib 7
Osama Hamarneh 7
Bassam Al Shami 4
Tariq Abdallat 3

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Alcatel vs Zain

On cold wet night, thye had a hot competitive game inside as Zain and Alcatel battled it out. The first quarter was a relatively high scoring quarter as Zain jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first minutes but then Alcatel started making some shots and they were back in the game as they were able to cut the lead down to only 4 points at the end of the quarter (23-19). In the second quarter, Zain upgraded their defensive pressure and held Alcatel to only 11 second quarter points while scoring 20 points to go into the halftime leading 43-30.

In the third quarter, both teams traded baskets as neither was able to go on a run with Zain winning the quarter by 1 point thus increasing their lead to 14 points (62-48). In the fourth and final quarter, Alcatel started their comeback as they upped their defensive efforts and increased their offensive transition and they were able to cut the lead into single digits but Zain made a couple of timely baskets to maintain their lead and get away with the W (76-69).

Scorers:

Alcatel:
Saliba Amash 19 pts
Ramar Clash 16 pts
Keon Norris 16 pts
Fadi Saqqa 13 pts
Moutaz Husseini 3 pts
Issa Marto 2 pts

Zain:
Nihad Madi 29 pts
Faisal Nsour 16 pts
Sultan Abu Mariam 11 pts
Kevin Thomas 8 pts
Sohaib Tawil 6 pts
Bassam Qamhieh 6 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Zain vs Arab Potash

Second game of the day saw our two top teams of the league so far battle it out as Arab Potash wanted to remain unbeaten while Zain was looking to revenge their only loss of the season. Arab Potash came out hot in the first quarter while Zain looked out of sync and finished the quarter trailing 21-12. In the second quarter, Zain came out determined to show their true colors and get back into the game and they were able to do exactly that as they cut the lead down to only 3 points and went into half time trailing (35-38).

The third quarter was a defensive quarter as points were hard to get by as Zain scored only 14 points compared to 18 points by Arab Potash (3 of which at the buzzer) which meant Arab Potash finished the 3rd quarter leading 56-49. At the start of the fourth quarter, Arab Potash were able to increase the lead to 13 (62-49) but then Zain started their comeback and were able to cut it down to 3 points with over 2 minutes to go. Arab Potash were able to score some timely baskets at the end and get away with a deserved win 77-71

Scorers:
Arab Potash:
Ihab Imseeh 21 pts
Luay Dajani 19 pts
Fadi Yaghmour 14 pts
Tamer Nino 8 pts
Raed Ghosheh 8 pts
Mamdouh Younis 6 pts
Mohd Razem 1 pts

Zain:
Nihad Madi 26 pts
Faisal Nsour 24 pts
Eyad Mohd 10 pts
Sultan Abu Mariam 5 pts
Bassam Qamhieh 3 pts
Sohaib Tawil 3 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Alcatel vs Bank Audi

A nice competitive high scoring game saw Bank Audi jump out to a 23-18 first quarter lead. Alcatel made some adjustments in the 2nd quarter and were able to slow down Bank Audi and cut the lead to 38-35 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Bank Audi went back to their up tempo game but Alcatel were able to keep up with them point to point as the quarter ended with Bank Audi leading 60-56. The fourth quarter was a joy to watch as both teams left it all on the floor. Bank Audi hit first as they were able to increase the lead to 7 but then Alcatel quickly cut the lead back 4 and the whole quarter was an amazing see-saw battle with both teams trading beautiful baskets. With less than 2 minutes to go, Bank Audi were able to come up with a key offensive rebound that was converted into 2 points that increased the lead back to 5 and Alcatel just couldn't complete their great comeback as Bank Audi won 82-76

Scorers:
Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 32 pts
Khaled Quran 13 pts
Raed Owais 13 pts
Ali Farouki 8 pts
Hani Thalji 7 pts
Samer Issa 5 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 4 pts

Alcatel:
Keon Norris 26 pts
Ramar Clash 16 pts
Fadi Saqqa 15 pts
Moutaz Husseini 10 pts
Samer Qardan 5 pts
Brett Weer 2 pts
Ben Reece 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour

on Old Timers Basketball League official Page