By Danotzki Santos
DOHA: Al Gharafa dominated Al Rayyan all game long and held their composure in crunch time to win 80-75, and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinals in the Heir Apparent Cup at the Al Gharafa Sports Hall, yesterday.
Coach Koussay Hatem and his wards are a win away from booking a ticket to fight Eljaish, who swept their own series with Al Arabi earlier.
Earl Calvin Cage was a picture of grit from the first whistle scoring 14 points in the first 10 minutes to pump his team up to an early 28-22 advantage.
The point guard added seven more markers and as Awako Emanuel and Victor Hakim Thomas began finding their range, the hosts went up 38-25 before settling down with a 10-point margin at 44-34 before the half time break.
The blue shirts raced to a 52-38 lead early in the third as Omondi Robin Amoke strung up six of Gharafa’s first eight points in the period.
With the white shirts behind 72-76 and time down to 40 seconds, Mohammmed Hassan Mohammed buried a trey from the left flank to chop the lead to a single point, 75-76. Emanuel closed the game with a pair of conversions in the stripe.
Earlier in the evening, Eljaish trashed Al Arabi, 71-60, to sweep their series 3-0 and clinch the first finals berth. The final takes place on Friday. THE PENINSULA
