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

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

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

Audi Bank vs. Arab Potash Co.

Arab Potash kept their trend of starting games hot as they jumped out to a nice lead 12-2 early on in the game and kept a 10 point lead till the end of the quarter 24-14. In the second quarter Bank Audi started to fight back as they hit a couple of 3 pointers but for every run that Audi Bank had, Arab Potash had an answer as they finished the quarter leading 43-32.

In the third quarter, Audi Bank started strong as they cut the lead down to 6 but then Arab Potash went on a run to finish the quarter leading 65-50. Nothing changed in the fourth quarter as Arab Potash won 87-68.

Scorers:
Arab Potash
Ihab Imseeh 25 pts
Fadi Yaghmour 20 pts
Tamer Nino 18 pts
Luay Dajani 13 pts
Mamdouh Younis 6 pts
Raed Ghoseh 3 pts
Mohd Maswadeh 2 pts

Bank Audi
Ghazi Naber 27 pts
Hani Thalji 16 pts
Ali Farouki 7 pts
Samer Issa 7 pts
Raed Owais 7 pts
Ziad Khair 2 pts
Fawaz Al Shaikh 2 pts

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Alcatel Vs. Bank Audi

Second game of the season is in the books as Bank Audi and Alcatel (Moseco group) entertained us with an exciting game. Alcatel started strong and were able to finish the first quarter leading 21-8.

Bank Audi started playing better in the 2nd quarter and they were able to go basket to basket with Alcatel but that wasn't enough as they went into the halftime break trailing 24 to 38.

In the 3rd quarter, the excitement kept rising as Bank Audi were digging themselves out of their hole while Alcatel tried to keep a double digit difference. In the fourth quarter, the difference was cut down to 4 points but then Alcatel responded by scoring 6 consecutive points and Bank Audi seemed to run out of gas which Alcatel used to finish the game winning by 13 points

Final score: Bank Audi 55 - 69 Alcatel (Moseco group)

Scorers:

Bank Audi:
Ghazi Naber 33 pts
Ziad Khair 7 pts
Ali Farouki 4 pts
Samer Issa 4 pts
Hani Thalji 3 pts
Michel Kakish 2 pts
Raed Owais 2 pts

Alcatel:
Ramar Clash 18 pts
Saliba Amash 16 pts
Fadi Saqqa 13 pts
Mutaz Husseini 8 pts
Brett Weer 7 pts
Samer Qardan 7 pts


Old Timers Basketball League Facebook Page

Written by Faisal Nsour
on Old Timers Basketball League official Page

Old Timers Basketball League: Arab Potash Wins the Title..

CEC (Sajdi & Partners) 102-64 Jordan Hospital 

It was apparent that both teams were disappointed not to be playing in the championship game as both teams deserved to, so the game started off slow as neither team was able to score 20 points in the first quarter which ended with CEC leading 17-14. Both teams stayed close until the last 4 minutes of the second quarter when CEC used a 13-0 run to take a 46-31 lead into halftime. 

In the 3rd quarter, Jordan Hospital managed to score only 10 points compared to 27 points by CEC. Things remained the same in the fourth quarter as CEC scored 29 compared to 23 by Jordan Hospital giving CEC the third place and the highest scoring game of the league with 102 points.

Top Scorers:

CEC: Nihad Madi 27, Fawaz Shaikh 22, Fadi Saqqa 19
Jordan Hospital: Eyad Mohammad 21, Ahmad Bashir 14, Pat McCurry 13

Arab Potash 84-70 Gulf Oil

Gulf Oil came in as the favorites, having the best offense in the league and winning all 10 games they played so far, while Arab Potash were the underdogs as they barely advanced to the finals and having a record of 6 wins and 5 losses. But Arab Potash did have the best defense in the league, so it looks like it is true "offense wins games but defense wins championships".

The first quarter was even as both teams exchanged baskets till the last 2 minutes when Arab Potash used a 10-0 run to end the quarter leading 21-14. Gulf Oil started the second quarter in a good way, as they were able to tie the game 31-31 midway through the period but Arab Potash went on a run to regain the 7 points lead and go into halftime leading 44-37.

In the 3rd period, Gulf Oil were able to cut into the lead and even take a 5 point lead for themselves (59-54) but like the previous 2 quarters, Arab Potash were able to finish the period strong and go to the 4th and final period leading 60-59. In the final period, Arab Potash didn't wait till the end of the quarter to finish strong, they opened up a double digit lead early and then were able to use the clock wisely and withheld any attempt from Gulf Oil to finally win the game with a final score of 84-70

Top Scorers:
Gulf Oil: Ghazi Naber 37, Ziad Nabulsi 12, Luay Dajani 8
Arab Potash: Ramar Clash 25, Samer Qardan 24, Mustafa Ghool 20

Old Timers Basketball League: Semi Final Games

2 fascinating games on Friday, in the first semi-final and despite playing short handed, Jordan Hospital gave up a huge fight before losing their second game to Gulf Oil 87-76. With this win, Gulf Oil have secured their place in the final, while Jordan Hospital will play for 3rd place. 

While in the second semi-final, Arab Potash Co. survived a huge comeback from CEC (Sajdi & Partnes) to win 64-56 and force a game 3 on Monday. Arab Potash were up 52-35 after three quarters and everyone thought the game was over but CEC had other thoughts as they held Arab Potash to only 2 points in the first 6 minutes of the 4th period while scoring 17 points to cut the deficit down to 2 with 4 minutes to go but then Arab Potash went on a 10-4 run to finish the game. 

Game three is Monday Dec 23rd at 7 pm. Between the two games, we had a nice kids game, we will post pictures of all the games inshallah on Sunday.

Gulf Oil 87-76 Jordan Hospital
1st Q. 22-15
2nd Q. 22-23
3rd Q. 19-14
4th Q. 24-24

Top scorers:
Gulf Oil: Ghazi Naber 30, Loay Dajani 24, Khaled Quran 16
Jordan Hospital: Ahmad Bashir 31, Fadi Yaghmour 23, Saif Halaseh 10, Pat McCurry 10

Arab Potash 64-56 CEC
1st Q. 18-13
2nd Q. 15-15
3rd Q. 19-7
4th Q. 12-21

Top scorers:
Arab Potash: Douglas Dye 22, Ramar Clash 13, Mustafa Ghool 11
CEC (Sajdi & Partners): Fadi Saqqa 13, Mamdouh Younis 10, Sultan Abu Mariam 9

Old Timers Basketball League: Gulf Oil Vs. Arab Potash

With nothing to gain or lose, both teams put on a nice show. Gulf Oil used their speed and quickness to lead 19-16 after the 1st period. The lead started to grow and reached double figures in the second quarter before Arab Potash Co. mounted a comeback to cut the deficit down to 5 at half time (41-36). 

At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, Gulf Oil went back to using their speed as they had easy baskets from transition offense and the lead went back up to 10 points midway through the third period, then Arab Potash Co. went on another run to cut it back to 5 at the end of the quarter (56-51). 

The 4th quarter was the most exciting of the game, Arab Potash were able to hold Gulf Oil scoreless for the first 5 minutes to cut the deficit down to one (56-55) before Gulf Oil were able to score their first points of the period. With less than 30 seconds to go, Arab Potash had a couple of chances to tie the game but their attempts fell short and Gulf Oil were able to hang on to 62-59 win.

Top Scorers:

Arab Potash Co: Ramar Clash 23, Mustafa Al Ghool 12, Faisal Nsour 12, Abdallah Qtaishat 6

Gulf Oil: Ziad Nabulsi 19, Ghazi Naber 16, Loay Dajani 14, Ameer Khatib 4

Great Players in Old Timer Basketball League.. Ghazi Naber: A Reason To Make You Wanna Run

Not only one team but four teams were lucky enough to include such a great name within their lists for the past 15 years.

The great name of a point guard who entertain us with his ability of being a very fast enthusiastic player and his ability of shooting from any corner of the court.

He started his basketball career in Orthodoxi club then moving to Arena, ASU teams and ending up with Kuliiyeh.

And now he once again allows us to enjoy his remarkable playing by being Gulf Oil Middle East Team’s Point Guard in the Old Timers Basketball League.

That great name would be Ghazi Naber

Old Timers Basketball League: CEC Vs. Gulf Oil

Tonight's game was a physical tough interesting game, Gulf Oil jumped out to an early big lead 22-11 over CEC (Sajdi & partners) behind hot shooting and quick offensive transition and they were able to finish the 1st quarter up 24-14. In the 2nd period, CEC were able to cut the deficit by half as they hit 4 threes in the period to go into half time down 36-41.

The 3rd quarter was the most even of the game as Gulf Oil scored 19 to CEC's 18 points which meant the lead was 6 points for Gulf Oil going into the fourth and final period. In the last period, CEC (Sajdi and partners) just ran out of gas in the final minutes as Gulf Oil continued to remain the only unbeaten team so far in the league with a 75-66 win.

Top Scorers:
CEC (Sajdi & partners): Fadi Saqqa 21, Nihad Madi 12, Sultan Abu Mariam 12
Gulf Oil Middle East: Ghazi Naber 34, Loay Dajani 11, Zaid Khair 9

Basketball Court

I enter this huge court where the cold stings your hands in winter and the nice breeze refresh you in summer, but unfortunately it was empty.

Seeing it empty made me go back in time, go back with my sweet memories when I used to walk into that enormous room and couldn't find a place to sit. I started to remember the kids' playing and shouting; those little children with their innocent smiles waiting for that great game to start. I began to recall those proud parents and families counting the minutes even the seconds to see their boys writing history and achieving what has been achieved. All those sweet memories and all those cheerful moments were of a great and beautiful game called "basketball" played in this outstanding court.

This basketball court filled our life with challenges, action, joy and excitement. Generations after generations have grown up going to this same court cheering for their favorite teams and their great players; I know I did.. But sadly, no such days exist anymore. An empty court and tepid feelings are all we get now.

I might just be a fan of this great game but I'm a hurting fan who wishes those days come back once again, wishes this court beat with life again, and wishes for new generations that love the game the way we used to.. Hope one day things will work out for a better future, better games and better days where once again Jordanian Basketball will have its prints on the game and will regain its fame.

Old Timers Basketball League's Pictures

Pictures With A Lot Of Meanings And Feelings