Muslim Basketball

A scrappy win from this Tiberias squad. When they were down late, I thought Akka had em. But they didn’t, making Tiberias the first undefeated team in CNJ history. Mahrooz had 22 points and 9 rebounds while Omar had 19 points going 5-7 from 3. You can tell this team is missing Salman and Ameer, who I’m hearing should be back for playoffs. 

There was actually a point when I thought Haifa would win. I should know better at this point, especially when Mahrooz turns up. He had 29 points on 11-17 shooting, and Singer threw in a monster of a stat-line (15pts, 10reb, 9ast) almost getting a triple-double. Araiz had 10 points and I know he’s feeling real good right about now. This game was a lot closer than it should’ve been, I’ll chalk that up to key starters being missing. 

Who hurt Mahrooz? Boy walked onto the court and dropped 42 points and 16 rebounds, certified POTW. He had as many points as Tulkarem had in the whole GAME. Sal Ilyas put 10 on the board while Singer had an uncharacteristically quiet afternoon. They’re officially the last undefeated team remaining, maybe a struggling Haifa can change that this week. They’re the new #1, for now.

In one of the more talked about games, I have to say, Omar Singer takes insane shots…and he makes them. He finished with 27 points, while Mahrooz sat out a lot of the game due to foul trouble, but still finished with 13. If you do the math, Abdurahmen’s squad did not hold those two under 30 points (spoiler, it was 40). 

Omar, Mahrooz, and Ameer came in and played this game on easy mode, getting every rebound and scoring every time they held the ball. And when I say rebounds, they had 49 all together as a team. This upcoming week should tell us if they’re the real deal, or not. 

The Omar Singer MVP campaign is officially underway. 18 points and 9 assists? I’m sure the whole gym heard him counting out loud. Mahrooz held it down defensively against Gagan, and still had 22 points and 9 boards. Have to give some love to Ameer Koyas, who jump started the game right from tip-off, and finished with 16 points. The podcast hosts said this is a contending team, and I didn’t see the vision until they blew Qibya out. 

Singer dropping a nice 18 piece, with Mahrooz having a light, more defensive focused game. Ameer and Salman Ilyas held the floor against two bonafide bigs, giving their matchups problems every step of the game. The team also went 46% on 6-13 shooting from three, which tells me they’re being smart with their shot selection. The new look Tiberias might be better than I thought. 

Mahrooz and Omar are bringing their North team down Central, bringing in fellow vets Salman Illyas and Ameer Koyas. They have a chance to make some noise based on their chemistry.