Basketball league enters Round 2

AMMAN — The Premier Basketball League enters Round 2 on Friday with the top four teams playing to advance for the final play-offs, while the bottom four teams try to avoid relegation.

Hurrieh finished Round 1 with an unbeaten record, while Orthodoxi beat Riyadi in the final week. With teams like Applied Science University (ASU), Ittihad, Wihdat pulling out of the competition, Awdeh have joined the top four. The bottom four group Jalil, Ghazzet Hashem, Kufr Youba and Nashama.

In Round 2, teams will play two stages to decide standings 1-4 and determine who plays who in the play-offs for the title.

Orthodoxi won their record 23rd league title last year and started off the season by winning the Jordan Cup, beating closest rivals Riyadi in the final minutes of the match.

Apart from Orthodoxi and Riyadi, the basketball league has undergone many changes with the leading clubs abandoning the game. Former champs ASU and Ittihad have pulled out of competitions over differences with the Jordan Basketball Federation and players have been dispersed over the rest of clubs. New clubs with no fan base are competing, in what is seen as a sharp decline in the game locally and Jordan’s regional competitive chances.