TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA

WILLIAM Byrd sparked Al Arabi Club to a 103-71 rout of Al Wakrah in the Qatar Basketball League and a coveted third place at Al Gharaffa Club Indoor Hall on Saturday.

Byrd contributed in both the attack and defence, collecting a rich haul of 28 points in the match.

Al Arabi was in a rampant mood and led in all the three quarters 24-11, 52-34 and 77-57 before coasting to the victory.

Byrd was followed by Jalloh Abdullah and Alvin Mofunanya who contributed 22 and 20 to keep the pressure on the rivals, who could not offer much resistance.

Darren Michael Kelly was the highest scorer for Al Wakrah with 23 points.

Ndour Souleye tried to support Kelly and scored 20 but others failed to back the duo as much as was expected of them.

With this victory, Al Arabi finished the league at 9-5 win-loss record and got the third place. For Al Wakrah, this was the 12th loss out of 14 matches.

In another match, Al Ahli put up a remarkable recovery to edge Al Jaish 67-65 for the fifth victory of the season.

Augustine Okosun spearheaded Al Ahli’s challenge and secured the win with 23 points. He was provided spirited support from Hashim Zaidan (20), Mohd Youla Beka (19) and Omer Ahmed Omer (18).

Mohamed Ahmad, who got 20 points, waged a lone battle for the loser. Babakar Mamadou (14) was the only other player to have come up with some notable contribution.

Al Jaish finished the league with an even winloss record of 7-7.

On Sunday, the last two matches of the league will be played - Qatar Sports Club vs Al Sadd at 5 pm and Al Rayyan vs Al Gharaffa at 6.45 pm.