JEDDAH, 4 June 2006 — Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia remained undefeated in the 17th Asian Clubs Basketball Championship beating Al-Rayyan 87-83 yesterday.
Four games were played in Fag’han Hilal Al-Mutairi at the Al-Qadisia club in Kuwait City. Ittihad played enthusiastically but after the first quarter Ittihad were down 27-29. But they came back in the second quarter by outperforming their rivals. Marlon Parmet and Ali Al-Maghrabi gave their team an edge through some incisive passes and quick baskets that helped Ittihad lead 51-44 at the half.
Coach Maffei’s game plan, smothering defense, quick passes and hard rebounding kept Ittihad ahead till the end of the third quarter 72-66, and in the fourth quarter Ittihad kept the pressure on Al-Rayyan.
Although Al-Rayyan fought bravely, especially Yaseen Ismail and Eric Chatfield, the team was completely overshadowed.
In another match, the Iranian team Saba Battery defeated Sagesse 103-75. Saba Battery, who trailed initially, came back strong in an exciting game. After trailing in the first period, Saba took control and ended the first quarter at 17-13. By halftime it was Saba 40 and Sagesse 33. At the final period the score was Saba 103 and Sagesse 75.
Fastlink faced their toughest challenge yet against Al-Qadsia. winning 71-61. Down in the first quarter the result was 13-17 and at the second period the game was too close to predict at 25-27.
Fastlink came back strong during the third quarter as they grabbed points from Americans Nate Johnson and Damien Cantrell together with Enver Soobzokov. For Al-Qadsia, Romanian Virgil Stanescu made a big effort.
Al Jalaa’ defeated Young Cagers 87-79 in the last match of the day.
