Action from the Emir’s Cup basketball tournament at Al Gharafa Club yesterday. Pictures: Noushad Thekkayil
By Danotzki Santos/Doha

Defending champions Al Gharafa controlled the tempo in the last two minutes to hang on to a 6-point advantage before sealing a 74-66 win over a faltering Al Sadd on the opening day of the HH Emir’s Cup last night at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena.
Al Gharafa were trailing from the opening minutes until the end of the second period but got their game going on furious defence and prolific scoring import Boney Watson and power forward Suleiman Braimoh at the onset of the third canto.
The reigning titlists, soaring to a 47-39 lead from a 33-35 deficit at halftime via 14-4 run in the first 4 minutes of the third period saw their lead cut to 2 points as Michael Southall and Khalid Suliman found their bearings, but Braimoh woke upon in time to push his team way further, 61-53 going into the final quarter.
Watson top-scored with 20 points and dished nine assists, while Braimoh contributed 19 points for the winning team. Southall had 19 points and 14 rebounds with debuting import Jason Fontenet chipping in five points and nine assists for the losing team.
Earlier in the evening, Al Ahli lorded over Al Wakrah all game long to hammer out an imposing 75-51 victory in the opening game.
Al Ahli, registering a combined output of 58 rebounds against their rivals’ 30, and scoring a total of 50 in the shaded lane against Al Wakrah’s 24, led all quarters and soared to double-digit advantage from the end of the second period until the final buzzer.
Big guys Mohd Beka and Augustine Okosun each posted a double-double, between them accounting for 33 rebounds and 41 points, while three-point king Cory Bradford and new recruit Nathan Bowie chipped in 20 and 10 points, respectively, to push Al Ahli to their first victory in the league.
Overpowered from the start of the match, Al Wakrah could not put up any semblance of a fight and left much of the scoring chore on the shoulders of import Darren Kelly who led them with 29 points.
The games can be seen live on Al Dawri Al Kass TV and via the Internet through www.qatarbasketball.qa webcast.
Games today
5:15 pm: Al Arabi vs. Qatar Club
7:15 pm: Al Rayyan vs. El Jaish