By Danotzki SantoS
DOHA: Al Wakra quashed a late Al Ahli comeback to record a 65-61 win in the Qatar Basketball League (QBL) at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena, yesterday.
With time on their side and up by three points, Abdelrahman Soliman calmly sank the second of two gift shots off a desperation foul in the last 3 seconds to seal the victory for Al Wakra.
Al Ahli came out with ferocious defence at the start of the final period and managed to inch closer, 61-64, going into the last 22 seconds of the game.
Al Ahli had a blazing start grabbing the lead outright at 12-7, and capped the first period with a 20-12 advantage.
With the lead, 31-28, before the half-time break, Al Wakra took control of the third period at 51-43.
Al Ahli tried to regroup and got closer early on at 42-47.
Olatokumbo Ayeni paced his team with a double-double performance of 27 points and 11 rebounds.
In the other QBL match yesterday, Al Gharafa banked on a 20-point third quarter spread to coast their way to an easy 79-68 victory over league newcomers Al Shamal.
Al Gharafa sank six triples in the first ten minutes of the game to peg a 28-7 early cushion.
However, Al Shamal went on an 11-2 roll to narrow the gap 18-30 at the start of the second period.
Al Gharafa played grittier in the ensuing plays as Ousseynou Ndiaye led a 12-5 counter-assault to erect a 19 point spread for his team at 42-23 as they headed for half-time
Al Gharafa soared to an unreachable 64-44 advantage going into the last stage of the game.
Al Gharafa finished the round with 4 wins and 4 losses. Shamal is 1-7.
The first round of the league concludes tomorrow.
It will feature the main game battle for round top honors between Al Sadd, who are riding high on an unblemished record of 7 wins and no defeat, and defending champions Al Rayyan, who are expected to come back with vengeance after a sorry loss to Al Arabi early this week.
Eljaish will try to improve their 5-2 slate as they clash againsth Qatar SC in the first game.
THE PENINSULA
