(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Baden Jaxen scored 24 points and Brandan Kearney added 22 to power Qatar Sports Club to a convincing 82-70 win over Al Wakrah in the semi-finals of the Qatar Cup basketball tournament at the Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.
Kearney also produced eight assists in a match that saw Qatar Sports Club make a fast start, taking a 19-9 lead of the first quarter to dictate terms to their rivals.
Nicholas West with 14 points added to Al Wakrah's woes as they struggled to contain the Qatar Sports Club players despite their best efforts.
Qatar Sports Club's dominance could be gauged from the fact that the lead changed only once during the match, and that too during the first five minutes. The winners led 33-26 and 55-42 after the second and third quarters before closing out the match comfortably. At one point they enjoyed a whopping 20-point lead (72-52)
Adamu Saaka with 24 and Earnest lee Ross with 21 were the main scorers for Al Wakrah.
In the second semi-final, Al Gharafa overcame a third quarter surge from Al Arabi to post an 86-80 win over Al Arabi. There were 14 lead changes in the match which saw Al Gharafa edge the first two quarters by narrow margins.
However, Al Arabi appeared to have turned the tables on Al Gharafa with a 26-point effort in the third quarter which helped them take a seemingly comfortable 64-57 advantage with 10 minutes to go. But Al Gharafa were not disheartened as they poured in 29 points while restricting Al Arabi to just 16 to eventually clinch a comfortable win. Sammy Monroe was the highest scorer for Al Gharafa with 28 points, while Jahmar Young had 24 and Travis Franklin 16.
For Al Arabi, William Byrd scored 22, while Khalid Suliman Abdi had 20 and Oumar Seck 14.
The final between Al Gharafa and Qatar Sports Club will be played tomorrow.
MENAFN2203201800670000ID1096633625
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.