By Danotzki Santos
Doha: Eljaish came back strong in the homestretch to register their second straight win in the Heir Apparent Cup Basketball at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.
The Army men registered an 76-67 win over Al Gharafa squad, who defeated Al Sadd in their first assignment a couple days back.
Al Gharafa’s lead was chopped to a single basket at 51-49 by the end of the third quarter from a comfortable 35-26 advantage at halftime.
Coach Milan Minic’s wards went on a 12-5 rampage in the fourth and held on to the driver’s seat until the final buzzer.
Mohammed Bakir and Ali Turki led Army with 19 points apiece, ironically the same output as with Gharafa’s scoring duo of Earl Calvin Cage and Robin OmondiAmoke.
Al Gharafa, who went down to a 1-1 card, are expected to bounce back against Al Ahli in their next outing while Eljaish should gun for their third win versus Al Sadd to avoid complications of a three-way tie going into the cross-over semi-finals.
In the second match, Al Sadd notched their first win in the league as they clobbered a hapless Al Ahli, 90-75, and are on a make-or-break situation when they battle Army in their last assignment in the single round-robin eliminations.
The reigning Qatar Men’s League champions drew a balanced performance from its first five this time, who all came out with double digit scores led by Saad Abdulrahman with 19 points. Alpha Bangura led Ahli’s losing cause with 29 points.
Matches in Group continue today at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena with Al Rayyan seeing action against Wakra in the first game at 5:00 pm.
Heir Apparent Cup defending champions Al Arabi and Qatar Sports Club, who are tied at 1-0, go separate ways after their main game battle which starts at 7:00 pm.The Peninsula
