Hassino Ndoye was the top scorer for either side with 21 points as Al Gharafa scored a 67-56 win over Al Wakrah in the Qatar Basketball League last evening.
Al Gharafa led from the start but the match was still competitive as Al Wakrah also produced a few sparks of brilliance and didn’t hand go down without putting up a fight.

A 20-14 lead in the first period for Al Gharafa was just the platform they needed, and they capitalized on their advantage to post a 53-41 cushion by the end of the third quarter.

When the final period began, it was Al Gharafa who were once again the dominating side as they pulled further clear. In fact, Gharafa went on to lead by 22 points at one stage (63-41) before Al Wakrah pulled up their socks to produce a purple patch, although it was too little too late for them by then.

Mohamed Saad was the second-highest scorer for Al Gharafa with 16 points, while Dwayne Galloway had 13 and Osaro Adako 10.

For Al Wakrah, Adamu Saaka had 16 points, while Harold Boney Watson had 15 and Souleye Ndour 11.

In the second match of the day, leaders Al Sadd edged El Jaish 78-70 with Anthony Raffa top-scoring with 24. Abdulrahman Saad was the second best with 13 while Suliman Abdi and Deba Kone contributed 12 each.

Al Sadd led 21-18 after the first quarter but upped their tempo in the second to increase their advantage by 11 points (46-35).They then went on to stay comfortably ahead after that to win with a bit to spare.

El Jaish’s Leon Macklin was the highest scorer of the match with 27 points, while Yousuf Mohamed had 19 and Sammy Monroe nine.

On Tuesday, Al Khor meet Al Rayyan at 5.30pm, while Al Shamal play Qatar Sports Club.

Credit: Gulf Time Sport