Big guns Al Rayyan bounced back from a six-point first-quarter deficit to thrash Al Wakrah 96-78 in the Qatar Men’s League at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.
Tanguy Ngombo was the hero for the winners with 26 points for Qatar’s most successful basketball club as they really took off after the first 10 minutes to leave Al Wakrah trailing in their wake.
Al Rayyan made a blistering start by scoring 17 points in the first five minutes catching Al Wakrah unawares. But in a scintillating display of attacking basketball the latter hit back in the next five with 18 points to edge the session 28-22.
Thereafter, however, it was Al Rayyan all the way, with Ngombo being well supported by Abdelrehman Abdelhaleem who scored 14 and Abdelaziz ElSayed who chipped in with 12.
Ngombo produced a troika of three-pointers during the 34 minutes he was on the court, helping his team lead 46-35 and 68-48 before finally clinching the match with an 18-point margin.
Al Rayyan’s bench played a key role in the match, accounting for 30 points and at one stage they held a massive 78-54 advantage.
For Al Wakrah Ayeni Olatokkunbo scored a match-high 35 points but ended up on the losing side. William Dale with 24 also excelled while none of the others managed to get into double digits.
In the second match of the day, Al Shamal defeated Al Khor 82-69. Mohamed Maharat was the top scorer for Al Shamal with 36 points while Abdulqadir Kosar and Ali Saleh had 16 and 12 respectively.
Gary Layton scored 24 points for Al Khor , while Alen Hadzibegovic was close behind on 23.
Action from yesterday’s games in the Qatar Men’s League at the Al Gharafa Club basketball courts.
