Al Rayyan’s Yaseen Ismail looks to pass the ball during his team’s Qatar Cup match against Al Ahli yesterday.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Hassan Mohamed scored 25 points and Armond Bolds and Dominic Devon had 21 each as Al Rayyan beat Al Ahli 88-78 in the Qatar Cup at the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.
Al Rayyan, who are aiming for their second domestic success after winning the league a fortnight ago, led throughout the match to boost their chances of a semi-final berth with a convincing victory.
Once again it was Hassan who proved the pivot for Al Rayyan – his accuracy from the three-point mark being the highlight of the game.
Hassan scored a whopping 21 points from three-pointers, succeeding in seven off 13 attempts to torment the Al Ahli defence.
Al Rayyan led 27-19 at the end of the first quarter and 54-37 after the second and 74-58 at the end of the third to virtually put the match beyond Al Ahli’s reach.
And although Al Ahli produced 20 points in the final quarter in a last-gasp bid to prevent the inevitable, it proved too little too late.
Devon scored thrice from the three-point mark but missed out on six of the 10 free-throw he took, while Bolds shot two three-pointers.
Al Rayyan and Qatar legend Yaseen Ismail also got into the act, scoring 14 points to anchor his team.
For Al Ahli, Narcellius Soyebo top-scored with 21 points, while Tyrone McNeal had 20 and Consteveous Jefferson 11.
In another match, Al Arabi defeated Al Wakrah 95-79 with Tanguy Ngombo scoring a whopping 35 points.
Ngombo played the entire duration of the match to top score for either side and was ably supported by Hassino Ndoye and Oumar Seck with 21 and 20 points respectively.
For Al Wakrah Adamu Saaka scored 29 points, which included 15 from the three-point mark, while Calvin Cage had 27, including 18 from three-pointers.
Today, Qatar Sports Club meet Al Shamal at 5pm followed by a match between Al Gharafa and Al Khor at 7pm.
