Danotzki Santos/Doha


El Jaish held their composure in the endgame, escaping with a narrow 87-85 victory over Al Gharafa last night to secure the last slot in the semi-finals of the HH the Emir Basketball Cup.
Army will face off with Al Rayyan in one of the best-of-three showdowns for the two finals berths.
El Jaish took an early 15-8 lead early on thanks to Fadi Abilmona’s playmaking until the hosts rolled out a scoring surge and inched closer at 14-15 but waned at the end of the first period to trail 18-23.
Gharafa had an 8-0 run to wrest the upperhand at 26-23 in the first 3 minutes of the second period before Army gained back their composure to stay close at 29-30, with 4:05 to go in the first half.
El Jaish clamped down on defense and took their turn to burn rubber and snatched the lead back at 36-33 as Gharafa’s slotmen Awako Emanuel and Omar Salem ran into foul trouble.
Both teams exchanged a couple of twinners in the ensuing plays to finish the half at 40-37.
Victor Hakim Thomas drew first blood in the third, sinking a lay-up and one off a foul, and buried a triple in the next offensive to put the white shirt ahead before Omar Salem drilled back-to-back treys and made it 49-42.
Mohammad Yussuf took charge for Army and ignited an 8-1 assault to even things up at 50-all.
With Emanuel lurking on the bench, Thomas made it 52-50 momentarily for Gharafa but Ali Turki spearheaded a 16-6 onslaught with his array of rainbow shots to pull Army up to a 66-58 advantage before the final quarter.
Turki kept his fire at the onset of the fourth period and brought Army to their biggest lead at 78-63 halfway in the payoff stage.
Calvin Earl Cage spearheaded a 13-1 counter-offensive for Gharafa capped by Omar’s triple from the left flank as they inched closer, 76-79, with 3:00 remaining in the match.
The count stood at 83-80 with 1:26 to play when El Jaish lost control and Omar banked a twinner to make it 83-82.
Jaish drew a foul in the ensuing possession and with split from the foul lane for an 84-82 tally, Army on top and 32 seconds left in the game.
Gharafa would, however, muff their chances to grab the upper hand and salvage a win as Coach Hatem Koussay wards succumbed to a pressure in the dying seconds.    
Meanwhile, Al Arabi masterfully outplayed Al Ahli in the first match to clinch the third semi-finals slot and will face off with Group 1 leader and early qualifier Al Sadd in the other best-of-three series for a finals berth.
Last year’s HH the Heir Apparent Cup champions routed the Bradford Cory-led Al Ahli, 93-84.
Al Arabi raced to a 30-22 lead in the first period and soared to their biggest lead a 16 halfway in the second period at 51-35 but Bradford ignited a 9-4 for Al Ahli in the remainder of the period to cut the red shirt’s lead and settled with 55-46 advantage at halftime.
Alpha Bangura came out strong from the break and steered his team within a basket at 55-57 in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter.
Alvin Mofunanya and William Bird then conspired to mount a 16-8 offensive in the balance of the period to finish with a double-digit cushion, 73-63 entering the final stage of the game.
Al Ahli would come to within four early in the fourth at 70-74 but Al Arabi doused their efforts once more as Mathew Rogers asserted his presence on both ends of the floor and helped his team complete a 19-14 finishing kick to seal the victory.  
The semi-final best-of-three showdowns start on Friday, April 12 at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena.