By Danotzki Santos
DOHA: Qatar Sports Club overcame Al Shamal’s fiery offensive in the homestretch to escape with a 75-67 win last night in the Heir Apparent Cup (HAC) at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.
Al Shamal broke the match wide open early on with an 11-point barrage coming off fast break plays while holding down Qatar Club without a basket for nearly four minutes.
Chauncey Leslie scored Qatar SC’s first field goal with a trey but Al Shamal’s William Tyvon countered with his own bomber to make it 14-4 midway in the first period.
The yellow shirts tightened up on their defence thereon and managed to close in at 17-23 by the end of the quarter.
Leslie came out waxing hot at the start of the second and steered a 12-2 onslaught to overcome the deficit and push his team to a 29-25 advantage.
Al Shamal threatened to come back with a 7-4 spurt and narrowed the gap at 32-33 but Qatar SC padded their lead to 41-34 before the half-time break.
Both squads fought tooth and nail in third period with the red shirts making a head way to get back in contention at 55-58 entering the final canto.
Meanwhile, Al Arabi had an easy time with Al Wakrah, running away with an 84-59 victory that saw the HAC defending champions’ awesome backcourt tandem in AbdullaiJalloh and Mansour Elhadary combine for 42 points.
Al Arabi and Qatar SC are tied on top spot of Group 2 with 1 win apiece. THE PENINSULA
