Recap
Final (2:00 PM-3:00 PM) Sunday, Jan 18, 2009
Qadr
Ma'un
  1 2 T
Qadr (7-2-0) 15 23 38
Ma'un (5-4-0) 11 23 34

Closing Mistakes Silence the Gym Jan 22, 2009
by Jawwad Butt  

The second semi-final of Tier One featured 1st place Qadr and 4th place Maun. The game started with both teams getting off to a slow offensive start as neither were able to find the basket. As a result, both teams relied on their defence to keep themselves in the game. As the game went along Qadr was able to score more easily and efficiently while Maun was still struggling on offense. It seemed as if Maun had no one to share the load of Taj Forde who seemed to be the only player on Maun who was producing. The first half ended with Qadr leading Maun 15-11.

The second half started the same way for Maun as nobody except Taj Forde was able to score the basketball. Qadr on the other hand got offensive help from all their players with Darko being the focus on offense. Maun was forced to call a timeout when they found themselves down 27-21 at the 10 minute mark. Coming out of the timeout, Maun played with more intensity and energy and ultimately tied the game at 29 a piece at the 5:05 minute mark. This forced Qadr to call a timeout and get things under control. This time it was Qadr who came out of the timeout strong and once again regained the lead but Maun kept fighting.

With only 54 seconds left in the game Maun found themselves down by two and called a timeout. Unfortunately for Maun, they were not able to execute down the stretch (despite normally cool-as-ice Sanel missing 3 consecutive front-ends of 1-and-1 bonus opportunities that could have extended Qadr’s lead beyond 2 points) as they eventually threw the ball away from an inbound play which led to an easy Qadr basket. This play ultimately decided the outcome of the game as Qadr was able to beat Maun by a score of 38-34. Taj Forde led Maun with 19 points while Darko led Qadr with 18 points.