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Season 3 - Week 7 Recap

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After a 6-week layoff due to restrictions, GBBL was finally back, and guys couldn’t be happier to just be back out on the court.  Majority of us hadn’t seen each other for the past 6 weeks, so getting to see some friendly faces again and knowing everyone was healthy was a great moment for everyone.  As is the case every week, the friendships were temporarily put on hold and the competition was back on as guys were back in GBBL mode, looking to capture those elusive GUT points.

With only 4 teams able to play this week, the 4 teams looked evenly matched on paper and this proved ot be true as we went through the round robin games.  After 5 games in the books, we had 2 teams with 3-wins and 2 teams with 2-wins.  With a win by the Soldiers and Wolves in the final game, it would have caused the first ever 4-way tie to determine the playoffs.  Unfortunately for both those squads, they fell short in the final game and the first finals of 2022 pitted the returning champ Legends vs. the Mambas.

Unfortunately for the boys in blue, they were forced to play this week without their Captain Omar Uddin, however, the boys added Mo “Mamba” Kala to the mix and were ready to roll through the competition.  With their 3-headed monster in Bilal Ilyas, Umar Ilyas and Jav Ahmed, the only thing missing was a rebounding machine.  Oh wait…. Super sub Suhaib Ibrahim returned to the team and ensured if his boys were to miss anything, he’d be there to clean up the glass.  On the flip side, captain Hamza Rustom looked to lead his squad on becoming the inaugural 2022 Champions.  Hamza decided to go big on this night and drafted Baseer Yaseen & Raheel Sadiq to create a triple tower, while also adding shooters Zahid Merchant and Riyad Ramjaun.

The finals saw Bilal taking over in the first half with the Mambas having no answers to his sharpshooting.  Jav & Umar played the role of decoys perfectly and this opened up the game for him.  Within a blink of an eye, the Legends were up 9-2 and were well on their way to defending their championship.  The Mambas on the other hand got some timely buckets from Hamza and a big 3 by Zahid, and going into the half, they were only down 9-6.  The 2nd half saw the Legends completely disappear, and Baseer and Raheel scored a few quick buckets while Riyad almost broke Umar’s ankles in the process with one of the nastiest crossovers this season.  The game ended in a 9-9 tie at the end of regulation and the 2 teams were forced to play a 2-minute OT.  In the overtime frame, Bilal once again hit a big time 3 and the Legends were up 12-10 with 30 seconds to go.  Unfortunately for the Mambas, they could not get a proper shot off in time and the Legends continued their win streak to 2.

With the win, the Legends officially have the biggest target on their backs going into week 8.  A win gives them that all important Dynasty and will firmly place most of their players at the top of the GUT leader board.  Additionally, with the win, Mo Kala earns his first GUT points of the year; this officially puts all regular GBBL players on the board with GUT points.  Tune in next week Youngbloods to see if we have our 1st Dynasty of the season or will a new team emerge victorious.