(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Rashid al-Abdulla scored a match-high 26 points as Al Gharafa produced a commanding performance to thrash Al Ahli 94-70 in the Emir Cup basketball tournament last night.
Saad Abdulrahman chipped in with 18 and Salem Abdulla and Sammy Monroe Jr. also excelled with 16 and 14 points respectively for Al Gharafa who led 29-8 after the first quarter and never looked back.
By the end of the second quarter the result was a foregone conclusion as Al Gharafa led 51-26 leaving Al Ahli with a mountain to climb.
Rashid scored of 11 of his 15 field goal attempts for an impressive 73.33 percent success rate and nailed the only three-pointer he attempted.
Abdulrahman scored thrice from three-pointers while Salem Abdulla scored four times. Al Gharafa accumulated 29 points from turnovers and a whopping 51 points came from their bench. At one stage of the match Al Gharafa enjoyed a 36-pont lead (74-38).
Abdulrahman al-Muftah excelled for Al Ahli with 24 points, while Aleksandar Mitrovic had 12 and Omar Ahmad 11.
Al Gharafa coach Koussay Hatem, who led them to victory in the Qatar Cup, was pleased with his team's performance.
'The boys showed great form as we head towards the knockouts he said. Al Gharafa have been the most consistent team in Qatar this season and we hope to carry this momentum forward, he added.
In another match, Al Arabi picked themselves up at the midway stage to rally past Al Rayyan for a 94-84 victory.
Adamu Saaka and Souleye Ndour were the stars for the winners with 23 points each while Osaro Adako and Momar Talla scored 19 and 17, respectively.
Al Arabi were trailing 40-44 at the end of the second quarter but hit a purple patch in the third to score 28 points and at the same time restrict Al Rayyan to 15.
That gave them a handy 68-61 lead which they used as a launching pad to seal victory.
For Al Rayyan, Abdulrahman Abdulhaleem top-scored with 26 points with the help of four three-pointers, while James Henderson also excelled with 23, with 12 coming from the three-point mark. Alban Ngombo with 16 and Hassan Mohamed with 13 also excelled for Al Rayyan.
On Tuesday, El Jaish meet Al Arabi while Al Shamal play Al Gharafa .
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