Defending champions Al Rayyan made a rollicking start to their campaign in the Qatar Basketball League, thrashing Al Ahli 93-75 in the opening match of the tournament here yesterday.
Addison Spruill top-scored with 22 and Hassan Mohamed chipped in with 21 as Qatar’s leading club side raced to a fluent victory at the Al Gharafa Club.
Al Ahli put up a competent display in the first quarter when they trailed by just six points (26-20), but Al Rayyan pulled clear thereafter and never gave their rivals any chance to get close.
For Al Ahli, Branko Ereminov and Elhadj Seydou were the main scorers with 18 each.
In the second match of the day, Qatar Sports Club edged Al Sadd 74-72, with James Justice top-scoring with 25 and Quentin Dogett contributing 25.
Sadd had done well to overcome a four-point first quarter deficit (27-23) to lead 60-52 with the final quarter remaining. But Qatar Sports Club scored a whopping 22 points while restricting their rivals to just 12 to clinch a thrilling win.
Mustafa Essam had 19 points for Al Sadd, while Raymond Sykes scored 18.
Today, Al Arabi play El Jaish at 5.15pm followed by a match between Gharafa and Al Khor at 7.15pm.

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