QAT – Rayyan rout Gharafa; Ahli overcome Army

DOHA (QBF Men’s League) - Defending champions Al Rayyan kept their march towards retaining the QBF Men’s League title well on course by routing last year’s runners-up Al Gharafa 104-56, while Al Ahli overcame a slow first quarter to beat Al Jeysh Army 83-73 in the most significant action of the weekend.

In other key games, Al Arabi handed the winless Al Wakrah their 12th defeat with a 97-60 thrashing and Al Sadd firmed their grip on the No 2 spot by beating Qatar Club 94-60.

New import adds power to Rayyan
Rayyan introduced Chauncey Leslie as their new import player replacing Tierre Brown, who suffered a “complete rupture” of his Achilles tendon ahead of Rayyan’s previous game.

Leslie, a former Iowa Hawkeyes guard, wasted no time in settling down as he finished with 16 points and eight assists.

The game was back and forth early on, but Rayyan then went on a 25-6 run in the last five minutes of the first half to lead 64-36 at the break and they never looked back the rest of the way.

Veteran Yasseen Ismail had 21 points and six assists in the winning cause. Targuy Ngombo (pictured) added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while the scoring was spread out evenly with Malik Salim (15), Mohamed Muhti (14) and Mohammed Nadiye (13) also reaching double-digits.

Chudney Gray’s game-high 24 points was a consolation for Gharafa. Koussay Hatem’s team shot 40 percent from the field, which paled in comparison to Rayyan’s 57 percent accuracy.

All teams have two fixtures remaining and they will be played this week.

The next set of games will be on Tuesday-Wednesday followed by the weekend’s action which will decide the champions of this season.

Ahli’s revenge against Army
Al Ahli were hammered 80-47 by Army some two months back, on the opening day of the league.

Ever since though, Brian Rowsom’s team has shown tremendous improvement and increased confidence.

Sunday’s revenge win against an equally tough opposition was a reflection of the great stride they had made over the past two months.

They closed the third quarter with a 63-55 advantage and pulled away further with a 10-4 spurt to start the final frame, eventually going on to win by 10.

American Maurice Hargrow, a vital cog in Rowsom’s plan, continued his good work with 23 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Mohammed Beka led all scorers with 26 points and Manyacka Eyoum finished with 20.

Sheikh Ibrahima and Alioni Se had 16 points apiece for Army who, despite the defeat, stay in front of Ahli in the standings.

Mousa shines for Sadd
Seasoned campaigner Daoud Mousa had 22 points in Al Sadd's comfortable win over Qatar for their 10th win, putting them two games ahead of Al Jeysh Army.

Khalid Suliman had 21 points to go with 11 rebounds and Clint Deas added 16.

Gaston Moliva and Mike Cook had 20 points each for Qatar Club.

Michael Cuffee’s colossal 43-point game tilted the scales in Arabi’s favor, who might have just assured of avoiding the wooden spoon.

Elhagi Doudou had 23 points.

Soleymane Ndour’s 21 points was the highest for Wakrah.

QBF League standings
1. Al Rayyan 11-1
2. Al Sadd 10-2
3. Al Jeysh Army 8-4
4. Al Gharafa 7-5
5. Al Ahli 7-5
6. Qatar Club 3-9
7. Al Arabi 2-10
8. Al Wakrah 0-12

FIBA Asia