QAT – Al Ahli, Al Arabi enter Emir Cup semi-finals

DOHA (Emir Cup) - Al Ahli and Al Arabi registered their second consecutive wins in Group 2 on Thursday to book their places in the semi-finals of the QBF Emir Cup.

Ahli pipped Al Wakrah by the proverbial whisker 81-80 after Al Arabi had ousted Al Sadd out of the reckoning with an 82-74 win.

Ahli and Arabi meet on Sunday to decide the top team from the Group.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the criss-cross best-of-five-games semi-finals.

Ahli and Wakrah fought on even keel throughout the game before the former scraped through more by providence than proficiency.

Bob Saintprux’ game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds led Ahli while Ricky Clemons added 19 points and handed out eight assists.

Manyacka Eyoum (pictured) displayed his versatility and filled in the stats sheet with 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks in the winning cause.

Kelly Darren had 27 points to pace Wakrah, who put on their best effort so far this season, but are still without a win in the league or the cup. Soleymane Ndour added 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Arabi too fought on even keel for the first half of the game with Sadd before pulling ahead early in the third quarter.

Michael Cuffee led all scorers with 29 to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds in Arabi's win.

Elhagi Doudou added 28 and Matthew Burston collected a game-high 16 boards.

Michael Bell’s 22 points and 12 rebounds were team-bests for Sadd.
 
EMIR CUP STANDINGS

Group 1
Al Gharafa 1-0
Al Jeysh Army 1-0
Qatar Club 0-1
Al Rayyan 0-1

Group 2
Al Ahli 2-0
Al Arabi 2-0
Al Wakrah 0-2
Al Sadd 0-2

FIBA Asia