Muslim Basketball

Seems like these boys weren’t feeling merciful this week, blowing Gaza out by 60 points. I’m talking full throttle for 40 straight minutes. Ehsan Popal (30pts) led the team in scoring and NoLimitHam showing how unlimited he is with 17 points, 5-12 from 3. Musa took a back seat and almost had a borderline triple-double (13pts, 12reb, 8ast). Unless there’s a freak occurrence, I can’t see them losing the rest of the way. 

Rafah, with Devin Bennet (25pts, 12reb) and Gagan Dhaliwal (DNP), are a borderline clear-cut #1. Mohammad Popal also had 14 points and Bashir had 11 points. Once the role players become more consistent, I think that this squad will get back to the top. 

Tiberias won this game easily, even with Mahrooz (14pts) no where to be seen by halftime. Ronny Sawwan looks to be getting his groove back, going for 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Salman Ilyas also putting in 16 rebounds. Jenin didn’t have an answer for Omar Syed (13pts), who was dealing from the arc. 

Ramallah was led behind Mohamed Amin (14pts, 15reb) and Omar Khan (19pts). Missing Aiden, Marc, and Anas will definitely hurt your chances with winning, especially against a team like Rafah. 

A game they won pretty easily behind Elias’ 17 points and Marawan Elbaz scoring/boarding 11 and 11. There’s nothing really more to say. Nazareth is fighting for a top four seed, and will have to bring out the best performance against the boys over at Rafah. 

On the W side of the OT thriller, Towfeek Hamzeh (11pts) had two clutch middies to seal the deal, while Kasey Ramsey put in a double-double (10pts, 11reb). They were missing two of their better players this game, and it seems like Bethlehem has been playing a high IQ game as of late, especially with Malik and Ibraheem on the court.  

Omar Hussein (22pts) and Ahmed Ismaeil (19pts) carried Jenin this game, while Aymen led the game with 17 rebounds. I think they have a lot of quirks they have yet to figure out. Physically, Jenin is one of the best teams, they just haven’t figured their game yet. 

Losing in an OT thriller, there are a lot of positives to write home about this season, despite the bad shooting splits this game. Hassan Saleh (7pts, 10reb) has a command of the floor and Young Karam is developing into a sniper when the rocks in his hands. Shubham (12reb) is also becoming a bonafide cleaner on the glass. There’s a lot to be excited about if you’re Jerusalem. 

There’s been growth over the season for Nablus—Mattias (16pts) has been consistent, but Luthfi Mohamed (24pts) and Hudhayfah Abdullah (14pts) have been stepping up in Omar Subhani’s absence. 

Iyaad (27pts) looks to be finding his footing again, but it doesn’t seem like the rest of the team is there with him just yet. Bilal Mughal finished with 10 points and 10 boards. 

Khalil Farraj (15pts) decided to show up, but no one else. Despite the final scoreboard, I thought this game was winnable for Al-Khalil. Elton, who was coming off a borderline MVP-esque season in the Summer, has two games to figure it out if they want a chance in the post season. 

They got blown out by 60 points. I got nothing good to say, to be honest. Let’s hope for a better week from this squad against Mattias.