Dubai Basketball records impressive win in their first home game in a month, advancing to 7-2 on the season. Six-time Race to Dubai Champion, 5-time Ryder Cup Champion, and 4-time Major winner, Rory McIlroy celebrates courtside and takes part in full-court charity putt for potential AED 1 million donation, which misses by inches.

After three straight games on the road, Dubai Basketball made it a homecoming to remember as they stormed to a 91-76 victory against Slovenia’s Krka in front of an energized crowd that included Sunday’s Race to Dubai Champion Rory McIlroy.

It had been one month since Dubai Basketball fans saw their team in action at Coca-Cola Arena and the hosts produced an impressive performance to bounce back from last week’s defeat to improve their ABA League record to 7-2.

The Dubai Basketball team was welcomed home by more than 3,300 spectators that included one of the greatest golfers of all time, Rory McIlroy, an avid basketball fan – just hours after triumphing at DP World Tour Championship and landing his sixth Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The four-time Major champion took to the court to take part in a full-court “Putt for Purpose” challenge, where he was bidding to donate AED 1 million to charity for a hole-in-one, but missed by only a few inches.

The hosts started off slow, finding themselves down 7-3 but found their rhythm to level the scores at 9-all, thanks to Danilo Anđušić’s three-pointer. Elevated by their passionate home support, Dubai continued their momentum with Isaiah Taylor’s jump shot and a two-pointer from JaCorey Williams helping the team take a 21-15 lead before closing out the first quarter with a point advantage at 24-23.

In the second quarter, the noise decibels hit another notch when Philippine’s star, Thirdy Ravena, came onto the court. Within seconds, he nearly put himself on the scoresheet through a driving layup but his effort hit the arc.

Dubai picked up where they left off in the second half, taking a healthy 13-point advantage into the final quarter at 70-57 and it was all one-way traffic as Prepelic, Nate Mason and Williams were among the scorers to seal the victory. Anđušić ended with a game-high of 18 while Leon Radošević hit 8 rebounds.