by Danotzki Santos
Doha: Defending champions Al Rayyan clamped down on Eljaish in the final period to mount an 87-78 final-berth clinching victory over a fighting Eljaish last night in Game 3 of their semi-final series in the Emir Cup basketball at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena.
Al Rayyan face off with Al Sadd in the do-or-die championship battle on Friday.
Coach Brian Rowsom’s wards raced to an 8-1 lead as Eljaish guns were rusty in the early going with the usually explosive spitfire Fadi Abilmona missing his first three attempts from the field.
Al Rayyan’s agile centre Jeremeo Davidson made it 14-4 with unmolested perimeter jumpers until Mohammed Bakir, Antonio Anderson and Ali Turki found their range from the outside to mount an 11-2 assault and put Army on top, 15-14.
Bakirand Steve Noubissie added 5 more markers against Rayyan’s lone basket to make it 20-16 but the defending champions grabbed the upper hand, 21-20 as Davidson and the returning Harold Boney Watson drilled 5 unanswered points to end the first quarter.
Rayyan went up to 28 at the start of the second period and limited Eljaish to 23 until Ali and Mohammad Yussuf launched hit back-to-back bombers to push Army within 1, 29-30.
Tanguy Ngombo and Malek Abdulla gave the white shirts a 38-32 lead with 1:08 left in the second quarter.
Anderson and Davidson then exchanged baskets for a 40-34 count, before Yussuf drilled a trey and connected on a fast break and drew a foul to peg another deadlock at 40-all ending the first 20 minutes of grueling basketball action between the two squads.
The reigning Heir Apparent titlists stepped on the gas at the onset of the third period and soared to a 46 before Noubisse broke the ice for Army with a strong drive to the basket.
Yaseen Mousa would take over from then on and ignited an 8-2 offensive that pushed the Heir Apparent titlists ahead 54-46, with 4:20 left in the third.
Erfan Saeed joined the fray with an under-goal stab and Ngombo sank a high looper to keep Rayyan away at 58-50 before Yussuf and Babcar Ngom converted points off turnovers and pegged it at 58-54.
Watson banked a twinner but Ali drilled another trey to make it 60-57 at the end of the third canto.
Ali evened things up with a long bomb which Erfan answered on the other end to start the period.
The white shirts pushed hard and picked up 6 straight markers while El Jaish struggled on the offensive end in the next 3 minutes for a 69-63 tally.
Rayyan collected easy baskets in the ensuing plays and pulled away at 73-63 until Eljaish went on a 7-2 spurt to inch closer at 70-75, with 3:04 remaining in the game.
Davidson and Ngombo combined to make it 79-70 until Yussuf connected from inside to trim the deficit at 72-79, with 1:31 left. Rayyan sealed the win with a 8-6 wind-up.
Watson paced the final-bound squad with 24 points.
The Peninsula
