JEDDAH, 3 April 2006 — Al-Ittihad won a must-win game against Ohod 88-71 as the Saudi Basketball League playoffs continued on Saturday at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Al-Ahli got off to a good start against Al-Ansar with power moves to the basket and three-point shots in the first period to set the tone of the game and went on to score an 81-49 blowout in the other game.
Ahli finished the first quarter ahead 23-17. The inside game made the difference. Damon Forney, Ahli’s center, had 14 points by half time, forward Bobby Madison had 12 as the duo helped build a 17-point Ahli lead 46-29.
Pressure defense forced Ansar to miss their shots and created turnovers.
The game’s high man was Forney with 20 points and 5 rebounds, while Madison added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Ahli.
Ansar’s Jules Aw scored 16 points as the only man with double figures. Beyharke Essa had 9.
The benches finished the game getting playoff experience with Ahli coasting to victory.
Needing a win to move on in the playoffs Ittihad did just that as their shooters helped put Ohod away. By halftime, Ittihad were up by 19 points at 47-28.
Ittihad center Steven Howard led all scorers with 23 points. Adel Al Johani’s 16 points and Ali Mughrabi’s 13 kept Ohod playing catch up.
Ohod’s Nervine chipped in with 23 and Abdul Mohsen had 19. Ittihad needed to win by 16 points to be first in their bracket. They had an 11-point lead and the ball with 11 seconds to play.
Michael Sanders made a three-pointer followed by a teammate stealing the inbound pass and scoring to put Ittihad up by 17 points.
