Al Rayyan's Darius Tyran Clark (left) dribbles.
Doha, Qatar: Al Rayyan tightened their grip at the top of the Qatar Basketball Federation Men’s League points table with a hard-fought 80–75 win over Al Arabi yesterday,
Al Arabi, led by Andrew Harrison who scored 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and four assists, showed resilience early on, in the battle between the top two teams at the Al Gharafa Sports Club court.
Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem and Emedin Kikanovic also contributed solidly to Al Arabi, combining 25 points and 13 rebounds.
On the opposite side, Al Rayyan mainly relied on a trio of standout performers. Darius Tyran Clark led all scorers with 29 points and added 8 rebounds, while Aladji Bobo Magassa impressed with 26 points and 5 rebounds. Demarquis D’Angelo Bost chipped in with 21 points and six assists.
Al Arabi led the game midway, with scores of 23-20 and 26-15 in the opening two quarters. Despite early trouble, Al Rayyan staged a brilliant comeback in the remaining half.
They put up 13-9 in the third and an impressive 32-17 score in the final quarter to fend off Al Arabi’s defense and secure the 80-75 result.
With this victory, Al Rayyan improved to 13-2 (28 points) after 15 games to hold onto the top spot, while Al Arabi, now at 11-3 (25 points) through 14 games, remain second.
They share the same points tally (25) as Al Sadd, but have played one game less than the Wolves.
