Action from yesterday’s game between Qatar and hosts Saudi Arabia in the GCC Basketball Championship being played in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Qatar won 71-66.
Qatar defeated hosts Saudi Arabia 71-66 yesterday for their fourth win on the trot in the GCC Basketball Championship being played in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The win helped Qatar qualify for the Asian Championship to be played in China next year.
After wins over Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Qatari cagers were in a class of their own against the hosts, who though gave a tough fight in the first two quarters and were leading by a solitary point (35-34) at the halfway mark. But the Qataris fought back in the next two quarters to take the game away from the Saudis.
Ismail Yassin, Bonnie Watson, Mohamed Hassan, Bakr Ahmad and Mohamed Yousuf combined well for Qatar. The fast-paced game witnessed some great action from both sides and the Saudis matches their Qatari counterparts in both pace and conversion rate in the first half.
The third quarter was closely fought too, but the final session saw Qatar break away to a five-point lead, and though the hosts tried hard to catch up, Qatar defended dourly to keep their all-win record intact.
Qatar take on Bahrain in their final game tomorrow.
