Al Arabi Crush Al Sadd, Set To Face Al Rayyan For Title

2025-03-26 05:16:12

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Chinthana Wasala | The Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: Al Arabi stormed to the Qatar Basketball Men's League finals with a commanding 91-67 victory over Al Sadd, sealing a 2-1 win in the play-off series at Al Gharafa Hall yesterday.

Al Arabi led from start, taking the first three quarters 28-19, 24-16, 17-6 to demolish Al Sadd 69-41 by the end of the third quarter before their opponents reduced the gap in the final period with a 22-26 score.

Al Arabi's Osiris Eldridge (pictured) led the charge for the defending champions, scoring 20 points and making six rebounds and three assists to earn the Most Valuable Player honors.

He was well-supported by Elmedin Kikanovic who racked up 15 points and made nine rebounds, while Abdulrahman Saad excelled with 10 rebounds and made five assists. Ahmad Saeid Mohamad added 10 points in just over 12 minutes, while Cleanthony Robert Early came off the bench to score 14 points in addition to making four rebounds and three assists.

Al Sadd tried to salvage through their star players Babacar Dieng, who posted 20 points alongside eight rebounds, and J'von Joseph McCormick who added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Faisal Nabil Abuissa also delivered 13 points, but their efforts were not sufficient to propel Al Sadd's fightback as the Wolves fell short against the high-flying Al Arabi side.

Al Sadd had secured a thrilling 80-78 victory in the opening play-of match in the second round, before Al Arabi bounced back with a resounding 89-70 win to force yesterday's decider.

Al Arabi, who are the second most successful team in the history of the League with nine titles in front of their name, will now meet record 18-time champions Al Rayyan in the finals.

Al Rayyan had beaten Al Ahli 87-79 and 88-66 to book their place in the finals.

The first of the final play-offs will take place on April 5, followed by the second on April 7.

If both teams record a win each, the series will be pushed for a decider on April 10. On the other hand, Al Sadd will now head to the one-off third place play-off against Al Ahli on April 7.

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