Game 5

Masjid Bilal Gymnasium. Houston,TX Laker guard Hamid Qureshi's desperation 25 footer bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded to end the most exciting game of the series so far as the Kings fought off elimination with a 45-43 come from behind win over the Lakers. The win forces a game 6 on Monday.

Kings guard Nabeel Patel lead all scorers with 25 points. While forward Ali Abdur-Rahman put in his best game so far with 14 points and 7 sorely needed rebounds. 

Down 3-1 in the best of seven championship series, the Kings rushed out to an early 10-2 lead. However Lakers guard Mahmoud Eissa and center Yaseen Sheriff turned things around quickly by leading their squad on a 24-8 run the rest of the half. Facing elimination and down 26-18 at halftime, the Kings turned up the pressure on defense with 10 second half steals and finished the game out-scoring the Lakers in the second half 27-17 for the hard-fought victory.

 

Game 4

Masjid Bilal Gymnasium. Houston,TX The return of team captain Nabeel Patel and the addition of MYBA veteran Ali Abdur-Rahman made for an exciting game but it wasn't enough as the Kings lost to the Lakers 51-44.

Nabeel and Ali led all scorers with 20 points each. Kings center Yaseen Sherrif continued his summer long domination on the boards by grabbing a record-tying 21 rebounds to go with his team-leading 18 points. The Lakers now hold a commanding 3-1 lead in the championship series. The Kings have their work cut out for them. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a championship in the history of MYBA.

Yaseen's rebounding total matched the all-time MYBA record set by Owais Ul-Haqq in the summer of 2007.

 

Game 3

Masjid Bilal Gymnasium. Houston,TX Despite low shooting percentages, poor ball control and the absence of key players from both teams, the Lakers managed to eek out a 35-24 win in arguably the ugliest game of the summer. Laker guard and team captain Mahmoud Eissa led all scorers with 19 points while teammate Hamid Qureshi chipped in with 16.

The Kings offense was awful without leader and point guard Nabeel Patel. None of the King players were able to score in double digits.

 

Game 2

Masjid Bilal Gymnasium. Houston,TX Kings guard Nabeel Patel poured in a near record 33 points and virtually willed his team to a 53-49 victory with a frenzied rally in the games waning minutes.  Lakers guards Mahmoud Eissa and Kamil Patel led their squad with 19 and 18 points respectively. 

Laker center Yaseen Sheriff, hampered by foul trouble was unable to have much impact on the boards and with defensive pressure as the Laker repeatedly drove to the basket to score points.

Nabeel's 33 point scoring effort fell just 4 points short of tying MYBA all-time scoring record set by Danish Faraz (37 points) in the summer of 2007. 

 

Game 1

Masjid Bilal Gymnasium. Houston,TX In a game marred by poor shooting and untimely turnovers, the Lakers came from behind to beat the Kings 37-33 in game 1 of the Summer Hoopfest series. The Lakers appeared to be on the brink of getting blown out as they trailed by as much as 14 points midway through the 2nd half. However, point guard and team captain Mahmoud Eissa who led the Lakers with 12 points and 7 assists rallied his team with a late surge. The Laker rally was facilitated by a stifling defense that held the Kings to one-shot opportunities as the Kings saw a victory slip away in the waning minutes. Laker center Yaseen Sheriff was instrumental in the rally. Despite early foul trouble, the post man stayed aggressive and completely dominated the boards, grabbing a game-leading 18 rebounds. Kings point guard and team captain, Nabeel Patel led all scorers with 20 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and making 7 steals; but it wasn't enough to hold back the Laker charge.

The Kings offense got off to a fast and efficient start, hitting on 9 of their first 11 shots. However, with the game on the line midway through the second half the Kings offense stalled due to lack of movement without the ball, blown layups and poor rebounding.