Shamal, Gharafa pick up victories in Emir Cup

Saleh Elhag’s superb shooting helped power Al Shamal to an emphatic 91-69 win over Al Khor in the Emir Cup basketball tournament last evening.
Elhag made 15 of 17 field goal attempts count for an 88.24 percent success rate and Mohamed Harat and Abdoukhader Diop added 21 and 16 , respectively, as Al Shamal made light of the competition.
Al Shamal led 21-9 after the first quarter and sealed the outcome of the match with 26 points in the final 10 minutes to keep their hopes alive of making the playoffs.
Gary Layton of Al Khor matched Elhag’s score of 32 and Demetrious Haymon also redeemed himself with an excellent 27, but none of the others could get into double figures.
Incredibly, Al Khor failed to score a single three-pointer with all 10 their attempts missing the mark, a significant factor in their defeat.
In another match, Al Gharafa shook off the challenge from Al Arabi with a fine performance from star Michael Taylor.
Taylor, who helped Al Gharafa win the Qatar Cup earlier, top-scored in the match with 34 points to help his team win 97-88.
But it didn’t appear Al Gharafa would eventually close out the match with some degree of comfort during the first half of the game when Al Arabi put up a tough fight.
The match had an explosive start with both teams scoring freely in the first 10 minutes which ended with Al Gharafa edging Al Arabi 31-30.
The second quarter saw Al Arabi take a one-point lead (49-48) but the match took a decisive turn when Al Gharafa scored 27 points in the third quarter while restricting their rivals to just 13 to take a comfortable 75-62 lead.
That left Al Arabi with a huge mountain to climb, and although they managed 26 points in the final quarter against Al Gharafa’s 22, it proved too little too late for them.
Taylor’s 34 points came with the help of six three-pointers from 10 attempts, while Sammy Monroe poured in 22 and Hassino Ndoye contributed 19. Saad Abdulrahman shot two three-pointers to chip in with 14 points.
Al Gharafa scored 21 points from turnovers against Al Arabi’s nine. They also excelled with fast-break points, scoring 16, compared to Al Arabi’s six.
For Al Arabi, Osaro Adako and  Adamu Saaka excelled with 26 and 25 points, respectively, with the former nailing four three-pointers out of eight attempts. Saaka also had 10 assists to his credit.
Tomorrow, Al Wakrah play Al Ahli at 5pm followed by a match between El Jaish and Al Sadd at 7pm.