Al Arabi's Elmedin Kikanovic dunks the ball during the match.
Doha: Al Arabi defeated Al Sadd 89-70 in commanding fashion to level the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) League play-off series and set up a decisive clash with eyes on the season finale yesterday.
After Al Sadd’s narrow 80-78 victory in the first game, Al Arabi were determined to bounce back in yesterday’s match. Right from the tip-off of the crucial tie, Al Arabi made their intentions clear, outscoring Al Sadd 21-13 in the first quarter and never lost the lead thereafter.
Despite a spirited push from Al Sadd in the fourth quarter in which they scored 26-points against Al Arabi’s 16.
Al Arabi’s balanced attack saw multiple players contributing with double-digit points, helping them lead the second and third quarters with comfortable margins of 26-19 and 26-12 respectively.
Al Arabi’s Osiris Eldridge (left) is challenged by Al Sadd’s J’von Joseph Mc Cormick.
Al Arabi’s win was mainly powered by star guard Osiris Eldridge and Elmedin Kikanovic who combined to add 44 points to their total. Eldridge scored 21 points and also collected a rebound and made three assists, Kikanovic scored a game-high 23 points, 15 rebounds and an assist. Khaled Roushdy Abdelbaset added 14 points, while Mustafa Hussein Ali Ahmed Rashid chipped in 11 points.
For Al Sadd, Skyler Tyrone Flatten led the way with 22 points, two rebounds and an assist, while Babacar Dieng scored 18 points and made nine rebounds. Adonis Michael Thomas came off the bench to add nine points while making five rebounds.
With the series now level at one game apiece, both teams will look to give all what they have got at the series decider on March 25. The winner will advance to the championship final, where they await the outcome of the other play-off series between Al Rayyan and Al Ahli.
