The excitement has intensified in the 35th Arab Clubs Basketball Championship currently taking place in Doha, as the preliminary round approaches its conclusion. The highlight of the third round was the match between Al-Ittihad Al-Sakandary and Dynamo Lebanon, described by many experts as an early final. The Al-Sakandary team, the most successful in the championship's history, secured the top spot in Group B after defeating Dynamo 96-89.
The first star of this early clash was Harris, the Al-Ittihad player, who scored 32 points, thwarting the strong advance of the Lebanese team, which led the first half of the game 45-42. However, Al-Sakandary turned the tables in the second half with their defensive prowess and offensive rebounds, aided by the departure of Dynamo's player Zach Lofton due to five fouls with just a minute and a half remaining, while Dynamo was pressing and narrowing the gap to seven points.
In addition to the ongoing excitement throughout the quarters, both teams displayed impressive stats in rebounds and three-point shooting. Al-Ittihad achieved 45 rebounds, with 30 on defense and made 10 three-pointers out of 26 attempts, including four from the game’s standout player, Harris. Meanwhile, Dynamo recorded 37 rebounds, with 22 on defense, and made 13 three-pointers from 35 attempts, four of which were from Zach.
With this result, Al-Ittihad now has four points from two victories, followed by the Algerian Union with the same points from one win and two losses. Dynamo comes next with three points from one win and one loss.
On another note, Al-Ahli Qatar exited the tournament after losing to the Algerian Union 83-54, with the quarters ending 14-20, 16-23, 12-18, and 12-22. Meanwhile, Al-Fateh Saudi Arabia achieved a significant win against Al-Wahda of Yemen 121-70, becoming the first team to surpass the hundred points mark. Their player Edgar Rafael recorded 41 points, the highest in the preliminary round.
In the same group, Salé of Morocco secured their second win against Al-Qadisiyah of Kuwait 76-66, taking the lead in Group C. Tomorrow, Wednesday, four matches are scheduled, the most important being Qatar against the defending champions Kuwait at 6:30 PM Qatar time. Simultaneously, Al-Ahli Egypt will face Maghreb of Tangier at the Al-Rayan Hall, preceded by Beirut against Al-Ittihad of Libya and Muharraq against Al-Bareij Services at 4 PM.
