Recap
Final (3:00 PM-4:00 PM) Sunday, Jan 28, 2007
Ikhlas
Falaq
  1 2 T
Ikhlas (5-3-0) 34 23 57
Falaq (2-6-0) 17 21 38

Ikhlas Cruises Into The Second Round Jan 30, 2007
by Zuhair Fancy  

The regular season match-up between these two teams saw Ikhlas run away with a 72-39 win. Falaq was expecting a tough game and it got worse before tip off as Amir and Asif Zafar were not present as they were delayed getting to the game from North Bay.

Ikhlas took full advantage of Falaq’s short bench as they moved the ball quickly and pressed after every made basket. Mehmed Rizvanovic tried to keep his team in the game as he drained a long three pointer early but Ikhlas was too much as they moved well without the ball and forced the Falaq defenders to tire themselves out.

The first half ended with Ikhlas leading 34-17, Abdul Bari Yousofi led Ikhlas with 9 points while Arsalan Jamil pitched in with 8. Rizvanovic finished the half with 5 points to lead Falaq and his team got a boost as the Zafar brothers arrived just before the start of the second half.

With substitute players available and their top two scorers back, Falaq was hoping to make a push to get back in the game. Ikhlas was quick to recognize and pressured the ball hard to force Falaq to make quick shots. The strategy worked and combined with fatigue from Falaq, Ikhlas was able to pull away for a 57-38 win.

Sherif Shehata led all scorers with 18 points while Rizvanovic countered with 10 points for Falaq. The leagues leading scorer during the regular season, Sanel Sehic finished with only 1 point in the game. Despite comments that he was “shut-down” by Falaq, Sehic had indicated during the pre-game warm-ups that we wanted to take the role of a true point guard and get his teammates involved and not take any shots.

Ikhlas will now move on to face Fatiha whom they lost to during the regular season by a 58-51 score. Sehic will have to be more involved on the scoreboard if his team hopes to continue their playoff run for a third consecutive championship.