DUBAI (GCC Club Championship) - Hosts and defending champions Al Ahli retained their GCC Basketball Clubs Championship crown after beating Qatar's Al Rayyan 81-77 in the final at the Maktoom ben Hamad stadium in Dubai on Saturday.

Al-Ahli secured a place in the final after easily beating Qatar's Al Sadd 95-70 Bahrain in the semi-final, while Al-Rayyan beat Al Manama from Bahrain 97-85 in the other semi.

The hosts got down to business right from the start and took advantage of some sloppy defending from Al Rayyan to finish the first quarter with a 27-18 lead, with Sam Young and Jason Maxiell combining for 19 of Al Ahli's points.

Al Rayyan rallied back in the second period and cut the deficit to just a single point thanks to Mohamed Hassan's 15 points, but Al Ahli bounced back late in the quarter to lead 48-42 at half-time.

The Qataris outscored their opponents 17-11 in the third quarter to tie the game at 59-59. However, in the final frame, Al Ahli outscored Al Rayyan 22-18 to wrap up the victory.

Young had a game-high 33 points and Kais Omar added a dozen in the Emiratis' winning cause, as they achieved automatic qualification for next year’s GCC Club Championships which will be held in Bahrain.

"The win today proves that our players are real men and that they can tackle all obstacles no matter the circumstances and challenges we face," he said.

"We had strong performances against very strong and tough teams in this championship and we deserved to go all the way to the final to win the cup and make our fans happy," he concluded.

Earlier, Austin Daye's 27 points allowed Al Manama from Bahrain to beat Qatari side Al Saad 83-75 to clinch third place.

FIBA