El Jaish and Al Arabi players vie for the ball during the semi-final of the Qatar Cup basketball at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday. Right: Action during the match between Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan. PICTURES: Othman Iraqi
By Sports Reporter/Doha
El Jaish sealed their place in the final of the Qatar Cup Basketball after they clinched a 79-67 win over Al Arabi at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.
It was their second successive win in the best-of-three semi-finals, after they had won the first match 86-73 on Friday.
El Jaish now wait the winner of the other semi-final between Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan, with both teams locked at 1-1 in the best-of-three contest. After Al Rayyan had won the first game on Friday, Al Gharafa drew parity with a 83-72 win yesterday. The decider will be played today at 7.30pm.
El Jaish, however, had no such problems, scripting another dominant win. There was only-three point lead for them over Al Arabi after the first period, but they had increased it to 10 by the end of the second period. Post that, Al Arabi failed to catch their opponents, as El Jaish marched into the final.
For the finalists, Larell Shawn top-scored with 23 points. He was well-supported by Leon Vernon (15) and Hani Fadi (14). Ndoye Hassino scored 25 points for Hassino Ndoye, followed by 14 from Tanguy Ngombo and 10 from Oumar Seck. El Jaish had just 11 points from turnover to Al Arabi’s 16, but the winners had better second chance points.
In the first match, hosts Al Gharafa kept themselves in contention for title, with a dominating display against Al Rayyan. Gharafa made their intentions clear in the first period, taking a four-point lead and maintained it throught the match. For Gharafa, Samuel Jr. Monroe and Deangelo Devan combined to spur their team to victory, scoring 27 and 25 points respectively.
Osaro Emmanuel scored 15 and Mohamed Abdulrahman contributed 12. For Al Rayyan, Armond Demarius top-scored with 17 points, followed by 16 each from Dominic James and Salem Malek.
