DOHA: Powerhouse Al Rayyan produced an awesome display in their 77-59 victory against Al Ahli in round two of the Qatar Basketball League, yesterday.
Al Rayyan, the defending champions hardly flexed their muscles in what was an easy win.
Brian Rowsom spared stalwart Targuy Ngombo from the game as veteran Yaseen Mousa and his team-mates ran rings around their rivals’ defence throughout the match.
The comprehensive win means that Al Rayyan have now recorded eight victories, with just one loss this season.
The positive result puts Al Rayyan on top of the points table.
Al Ahli put a fight momentarily and inched closer at 23-22 halfway in the second period.
However, American import Boney Watson combined with Mousa to roll out in flurry to push Al Rayyan to a 32-26 lead going into the mid-game break.
The defending champions upped the tempo at the onset of the third period with Erfan Saeed leading his team to a double-digit cushion at 55-43 after 30 minutes of play of the match at Al Gharafa Stadium.
The white shirts surged further away unscathed to 65-50 halfway in the final quarter.
They settled down with an 18-point advantage at the buzzer. Mousa led all scorers with 30 big points.
Saeed chipped in with 15 while Watson had 10.
Ibou Sarr and Michael Cook paced Ahli with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Al Sadd suffered a shock loss to Al Wakra losing 68-67 in the second match of the evening.
Al Sadd, who entered the match as strong favourites were unable to notch their ninth win of the season.
Al Wakra were beaten by Al Arabi in their first match of round two, after a one month break, losing 98-70.
In tomorrow’s matches, Eljaish, who crushed Al Shamal 74-49, will be aiming to make it two wins out of two when they face Qatar Sports Club in the first match at 5:15pm.
Eljaish will be aiming to register their eighth win of the season.
In the later match that takes place tomorrow, Al Gharafa will be looking to pick up maximum points when they face Al Arabi at the same venue.
Al Gharafa began round two by beating Qatar Sports Club 88-67 earlier this week, with new reinforcement FIBA-veteran Rasheim Wright playing a starring role in the win. THE PENINSULA
