El Jaish overcame a spirited late resistance from Al Shamal before posting a 97-88 victory in the Qatar Men’s League at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.
Although El Jaish managed to keep their nose ahead for most part of the match, they had to fight it out in the late stages with Al Shamal threatening to get uncomfortably close.
Leon Macklin and James Davon were the top scorers for El Jaish with 35 and 31 points respectively, while Mohamed Yousuf with 10 was the only other player in the team who managed a double digit score.
Macklin had a 70.59 field goal conversion rate in his match-high 35, yet he remarkably didn’t attempt even a single three-pointer. Davon’s 31 points only had one three-pointer.
El Jaish led 27-23 after the first quarter but stepped up their game to finish the first half comfortably 53-39 ahead.
However, Al Shamal mounted a fightback with 23 points in the third quarter and then scored 26 in the final 10 minutes to make a fight out of it, eventually losing by just nine points.
Mohamed Harat excelled for Al Shamal with 31 points, while Kevin Johnson and Abdul Qadird Kosar had 21 and 16, respectively.
In the second match of the day, Al Gharafa upstaged defending champions Al Rayyan 88-75 with Sammy Monroe scoring a match-high 28 for the winners.
Abdulrahman Saad and Alexander Arnold chipped in with 19 and 18 respectively as Al Gharafa dominated the match from the start, opening up a 43-29 lead at the halfway stage.
Al Rayyan came up with a commendable display in the third and fourth quarters but couldn’t get close to the Al Gharafa score.
Marcel Anderson was the top scorer for Al Rayyan with 25 points, while March Bell registered 19.
El Jaish’s James Davon scores against the Al Shamal during their Qatar Men’s League match yesterday. PICTURE: Anees Khalid
