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Season 3 - Week 12 Recap

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Week 12 gave 1 team the last opportunity this season in order to get that elusive Dynasty.  If the Ballers won again, they could continue their quest to Dynasty status; however, if a new team emerged, they would have the last chance at Dynasty given there were only 3 weeks remaining.  The Ballers came out of the gates looking to continue their dominance.  After squeaking by the Soldiers and tying the Legends at 4’s, the Ballers took command and finished the round robin undefeated.  On the other side, the Wolves & Mambas couldn’t get things going for them, however, the Wolves played spoiler and beat the Soldiers in their final game of the night.  With the loss, the Soldiers were on the sidelines looking at the Mambas play the Legends.  A win by the Legends would send them to the finals but a loss would send the Soldiers.  The Mambas unfortunately could not play spoiler, as the Legends beat them 7-0 and punched their way to the finals.

The Legends this week were captained by Fahad Ilyas.  The trigger-happy Fahad made sure his lil bro and MVP candidate Bilal Ilyas was his first pick.  To go along with the Ilyas bros, big men Arif Iqbal and Hamza Rustom were brought on to ensure any and all rebounds would be grabbed by the boys in blue.  Rounding out the Legends this week as the Mamba himself, Mo Kala.  On the other side, the Ballers brought back 4 of their 5 guys from last weeks championship run.  Captain Zahid Merchant was running on all cylinders trying to get the Dynasty and get himself back to the top of the GUT standings.  His 1st pick, Umair Vanthaliwala has made the biggest progress this GBBL season.  Rumors had it that Umair was a top tier talent when he first joined, but he was still getting his feet wet and getting acclimated to GBBL.  With 5 weeks under his belt, he has now established himself as one of the top players in this league, consistently wowing onlookers with his high ball IQ.  The Ballers also brough back the King himself, Faisal Khan who looked rejuvenated from his early season injuries.  Finally, the energizer bunny Shahzad Razzak came back.  To replace the missing Siad, captain Zahid decided he had enough offense and went the defensive route, drafting super sub Suhaib Ibrahim. 

The game started off in favor of the Legends, with both Ilyas brothers coming up big; Fahad hitting a bit 3 while Bilal got it going with his signature floater.  The Legends were up 3-0 but there was a lot of game left to be played.  This is when Umair decided to take over the game for the Ballers.  He went on a tear and proceeded to score 6 points, including a big time 3 for the Ballers.  The boys in white were up but the Legends were not out of it.  Unfortunately for them, Arif landed awkwardly and rolled his ankles as he went hard to the floor.  Everyone remembers a gruesome injury we witnessed earlier this year and held their collective breaths.  Masha Allah, Arif was able to get up and after some time on the sidelines, re-entered.  Without Arif under the basket, Fai feasted and got every rebound possible (he got 5 off his own misses within 5 seconds LOL), while Zahid put the icing on the cake with a big bucket.  The Ballers ended up outrebounding the Legends by 10 on the night and with that, beat the Legends by 4 and are now 1 win away from Dynasty.

With only 2 weeks remaining, the Ballers will look to get the last possibly Dynasty of season 3.  With the win, Zahid has now taken a slight lead over Bilal for 1st place in the GUT standings, while all the other Ballers have now climbed their way to top 12; 1 more win and they will all firmly cement their place in the All-Star game. 

On another note, GBBL has teamed up with GNBL and will be hosting the first annual Dynasty Tournament this coming Saturday.  With so many GBBL regular players playing in the tournament, please don’t hesitate to come out to the Velodrome this Saturday at 5pm and cheer on your friends and possibly donate to the tournament’s charity.  Ramadan is around the corner, and thousands of Muslim families, women and children need our help.  All proceeds will go directly to Sakeenah Homes; for more details and if you wish to donate, please click the Go Fund Me link below.  GBBL wishes all its players good luck in the tournament and will see everyone back next week Young Bloods!!

Dynasty Tournament Go Fund Me:            https://gofund.me/16d34f2b