Tribune News Network
DOHA
Five-time champions Qatar played well for the first two quarters but could not sustain their push after the interval, going 57-73 down to Saudi Arabia in the GCC Basketball Championship in Kuwait City on Monday.
Qatar edged the rivals 18-17 in the opening quarter and then had a three-point advantage in the next to lead Saudi Arabia 34-30 at the interval.
Al Annabi added two more points to go 36-30 ahead in the third quarter. Saudi Arabia however staged a strong rally and went 43-43 up through point guard Mohamned Alsager with a layup.
Mathna Almarwani sank a trey and Saudi Arabia further consolidated themselves with a centre Mohammed Alsuwailem’s layup to finish with 48-42 advantage.
Qatar bounced back in the final 10 minutes and tied the scores at 50. But a nine-point run was launched by Alsuwailem to send Saudi Arabia 59-50 clear. Qatar found it too hard a gap to erase and suffered their successive loss.
For Saudi Arabia, it was their second win in three matches. Alsuwailem, who had a fine double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds ended up as the leading scorer in the match. Point guards Khalid Gabar and Almarwani added 15 and 13.
Shooting guard Mohamed Hassan A Mohamed (popularly known as Mizo Amin) scores 19 points was the best scorer for Qatar, getting 11 points, including three three-pointers. Guard Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad was the other double-digit contributor with 10. Power forward Erfan Ali Saeed chipped in with nine.
Qatar’s next two matches are scheduled on November 27 (vs Kuwait) and November 28 (vs UAE).
DOHA
Five-time champions Qatar played well for the first two quarters but could not sustain their push after the interval, going 57-73 down to Saudi Arabia in the GCC Basketball Championship in Kuwait City on Monday.
Qatar edged the rivals 18-17 in the opening quarter and then had a three-point advantage in the next to lead Saudi Arabia 34-30 at the interval.
Al Annabi added two more points to go 36-30 ahead in the third quarter. Saudi Arabia however staged a strong rally and went 43-43 up through point guard Mohamned Alsager with a layup.
Mathna Almarwani sank a trey and Saudi Arabia further consolidated themselves with a centre Mohammed Alsuwailem’s layup to finish with 48-42 advantage.
Qatar bounced back in the final 10 minutes and tied the scores at 50. But a nine-point run was launched by Alsuwailem to send Saudi Arabia 59-50 clear. Qatar found it too hard a gap to erase and suffered their successive loss.
For Saudi Arabia, it was their second win in three matches. Alsuwailem, who had a fine double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds ended up as the leading scorer in the match. Point guards Khalid Gabar and Almarwani added 15 and 13.
Shooting guard Mohamed Hassan A Mohamed (popularly known as Mizo Amin) scores 19 points was the best scorer for Qatar, getting 11 points, including three three-pointers. Guard Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad was the other double-digit contributor with 10. Power forward Erfan Ali Saeed chipped in with nine.
Qatar’s next two matches are scheduled on November 27 (vs Kuwait) and November 28 (vs UAE).