RIYADH: After an opening day 63-53 victory over Marriott Riyadh, defending champion InterContinental enters the second week at the head of the pack in the 29th Annual Riyadh Inter-Hotels Basketball Tournament 2016.
The host team was busy during the game days of Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. Despite having their hands full InterCon boys encountered their only real challenge from Burj Rafal Kempinski in the 77-71 victory while blowing past Holiday Inn Meydan 80-56 and Courtyard 91-67.
InterCon leads the team standings on 4-0 after Wednesday’s games, followed by Burj Rafal Kempinski 3-1, Vivienda and Holiday Inn Meydan 2-1, Sheraton 2-2, Marriott and Courtyard 1-3, Holiday Inn Al Qasr 1-2 and Novotel 0-3.
InterCon drew a bye for this Friday schedule that sees Vivienda up against Courtyard at 7 p.m. and Holiday Inn Al Qasar vs. Holiday Inn Meydan at 8:30 p.m.
After the round robin eliminations, the 4 top teams advance to the semifinal where they play another round robin. The best two teams face off in a best-of-three series for the championship crown. The other two that failed to qualify for the finals will clash in a knockout game for third place.
The magic number for any team to at least gain a tie for one of four semifinal spots is 5, meaning the hosts are a win away with two more to guarantee their entry to the next round.
On the opposite end, Novotel faces the daunting task of having to sweep its remaining five games to gain at least a tie for a final four berth.
The host team was busy during the game days of Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. Despite having their hands full InterCon boys encountered their only real challenge from Burj Rafal Kempinski in the 77-71 victory while blowing past Holiday Inn Meydan 80-56 and Courtyard 91-67.
InterCon leads the team standings on 4-0 after Wednesday’s games, followed by Burj Rafal Kempinski 3-1, Vivienda and Holiday Inn Meydan 2-1, Sheraton 2-2, Marriott and Courtyard 1-3, Holiday Inn Al Qasr 1-2 and Novotel 0-3.
InterCon drew a bye for this Friday schedule that sees Vivienda up against Courtyard at 7 p.m. and Holiday Inn Al Qasar vs. Holiday Inn Meydan at 8:30 p.m.
After the round robin eliminations, the 4 top teams advance to the semifinal where they play another round robin. The best two teams face off in a best-of-three series for the championship crown. The other two that failed to qualify for the finals will clash in a knockout game for third place.
The magic number for any team to at least gain a tie for one of four semifinal spots is 5, meaning the hosts are a win away with two more to guarantee their entry to the next round.
On the opposite end, Novotel faces the daunting task of having to sweep its remaining five games to gain at least a tie for a final four berth.
