Recap
Final (1:30 PM-2:30 PM) Sunday, Jun 18, 2006
Qadr
Asr
  1 2 T
Qadr (4-4-0) 16 29 45
Asr (3-4-1) 25 27 52

Asr builds early lead and hangs on for upset win Jun 20, 2006
by Zuhair Fancy  

Qadr took the regular season meeting between these two teams after building a big lead in the first half and barley hanging on after a big Asr push in the second half. Making things worse for Qadr was the fact that they only had four players show up at game time, they indicated that a fifth player was on his way but would have to start the game shorthanded. For Asr, injuries have hurt their guard positions but got a boost when Zuhair Kanji returned and Teepu Khawja was taken off injured reserve. It would be interesting to see how much production could come from these two guards fighting injuries.

Asr started off well, moving the ball around and finding the open man for free looks at the rim. Qadr had their fifth player show up with 10 minutes remaining in the half and down 13-5. Qadr tried to close the gap with a full squad on the court but was unable to get anything working for them. With 1:42 left in the half Qadr called for a timeout to try and organize better as they were still trailing by a 22-15 score. Yet it was Asr who finished the half strong as Asghar Molu knocked down a three at the buzzer to give Asr a 25-16 lead at halftime. Reza Mohammed led Asr with 8 points and was supported by Ahsan Reza with 5 points and 6 rebounds. Qadr was led by Sadmir Kadic with 8 points but as a team could not get any offensive flow going.

The second half saw Qadr make a big push as Mahir Alic started to hit shots from all over the court as he kept his team in the game on his own. Asr was forced to call a timeout with 12:13 left as their lead had been cut down to 33-28. Qadr continued to push but as well as they were playing offensively they were not stopping Asr from scoring as Mohammed found himself open for mid-ranger jumpers. Qadr called for a timeout with 2:51 left and down 49-43. Asr brought in their veteran guards to control the play from that point on as Kanji and Khawja moved the ball effectively and ate up the clock. When the final buzzer sounded it was Asr defeating the higher seeded Qadr by a 52-45 score. Mohammed led Asr with 23 points, 15 point in the 2nd half while Reza finished the game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Qadr was led by Alic who finished with 20 points, of which 16 points came in the second half when he kept Qadr alive on his own. Kadic finished the game with 12 points but was hindered defensively as he was playing with four fouls in the second half. Qadr did not get the expected production for Dzenan Kurt who finished with 1 point and only 2 rebounds.

Qadr will have the off-season to review their team and hopefully return with a full roster for next season as absenteeism has hurt them too often over the past few seasons. Had Qadr started the game with 5 players and had a bench to use, perhaps the fatigue that was clearly slowing them down towards the end of the game could have been avoided.

Asr will now move on to match up against Inshirah who they lost to in the regular season by a 65-64 score. Asr was leading going into the final minutes but did not protect the ball when it mattered and turnovers gave Inshirah the win.