Khalid Suliman Abdi and Deba Kone put in powerful performances as Al Sadd defeated Al Ahli 88-74 in the Qatar Basketball League yesterday.
At the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall, Al Sadd proved far too superior to their rivals who made a late charge in the final quarter when they scored a whopping 26 points.
But that proved the only saving grace for Al Ahli who were 28-9, 5-24 and 72-48 behind at the end of the first three quarters.
Abdi netted 27 points to be the highest scorer of the match, while Kone was close behind on 26 as they tormented the Al Ahli defence at will to keep Al Sadd comfortably ahead throughout the match.
Al Sadd scored 23 points from turnovers while Al Ahli had just eight. The winners also scored 13 second chance points as against their rivals’ four.
For Al Ahli, Jimmy Williams was the top scorer with 24 points while Lamar Demond had 20 and Elhadj Seydou 13.
In the second match of the day, Al Shamal bounced back in style after trailing in the first quarter to beat Al Arabi 78-61. Al Arabi had taken a 15-10 early lead but after that the match progressed in a see saw manner as the teams tied 32-all and 49-all at the end of the second and third quarters.
In the final period, however, Al Shamal produced a mammoth effort to score 29 points and take the match beyond Al Arabi’s grasp. Al Arabi could only manage 12 points during the period which proved their undoing.
For Al Shamal, Alvin Mofunanya scored 21 points, while Abdulqadir Kosar and Kamal Hachad contributed 18 and 15, respectively.
Edward O’Brien and Narcellius Soyebo scored 15 apiece for Al Arabi.
 On Tuesday, Al Gharafa will play Al Khor at 5.15pm followed by a match between Al Rayyan and El Jaish at 7.15.