Action from the Qatar Basketball League at Al Gharafa Stadium yesterday.
By Danotzki Santos
Doha: Al Arabi edged past Eljaish 81-70 in the second leg match of the Qatar Basketball League at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena yesterday.
The win placed Arabi in a tie with Army in the team standings with 9 wins and 3 losses.
Al Arabi came out with guns blazing at the start of the match to take a 11-3 advantage early on through the combined efforts of William Byrd and Abdulai Jalloh and went to shackle their foes for the remainder of the first period to take a commanding 20-9 lead.
The Heir Apparent Cup winners stepped up the game in the next quarter with a 9-4 early run to pull away, 28-13.
Back-up point guard Marwan Salah would however spearhead a 10-3 assault to trim the deficit to 31-23, and lead Eljaish back to a close 37-35 fight before the half time break.
Alvin Mofunanya lorded it over the paint on both ends to help Arabi rise to a commanding 49-38 midway into the third stage of the game.
Eljaish threatened to come back with a string of baskets but ace guard Mansour Elhadary took control and kept his team afloat at 62-48 before the final quarter.
Jalloh led all scorers with 30 points. Mansour contributed 23.
Earlier, Al Sadd put on a strong finish this time around to tame a stubborn Al Gharafa, 64-59 to get back from a sorry loss in the hands of Al Wakra in their last outing and cement their hold of second place in the team standings at 9-2.
The Peninsula
