JEDDAH, 13 January 2007 — The Saudi Basketball League resumed Thursday night with two matches played at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here. Al-Qadisiya, coached by Ali Sanhani, were determined not to give up, but Al-Ahli ended the first half taking a 21-11 lead. They intensified their attack scoring baskets and advanced to 44-25 by halftime. Taking a 22-point lead in the third period, Ahli made some substitutes. The game changed after that. Ahli went flat, and there were periods where neither team scored. The third quarter ended in Ahli’s favor 56-45. With six minuets to go in the game Ried Idress hit a three-pointer for Qadisiya.
Point guard Terrance Simmons passed the ball four more times to Ried who hit them all, the last with only 23 seconds to play. Ried shot five for six in the last quarter and finished with 15. Center Antoine Brcxsie scored six of his 12 points in the fourth period, as did Ahmed Samentha who finished with 15.
Ahli had no ball movement in the last minutes. Mohamed Musa was high man with 21 points and Damon Forney had 16 points and 9 blocked shots. Ahli turned the ball over six times in the last four minuets.
Qadisiya’s defense surprised Ahli along with their great shooting in the last minutes that earned them the win.
Earlier, Al-Ittihad outplayed Nahda 94-57. Ittihad outmaneuvered Nahda in the first taking 22-11 and were up 5 points. Ittihad pulled within 49-29 at the half time before taking command in the second half of the game. They were up 20 points. Adel Al-Johani added 21 points, while Ali Mughrabi had 16 points. Point guard Tony Madison bagged 10 points and11 assist in only 23 minutes of playing time.
Ittihad are leading the standings with ten points, followed by Ahli, which is second with nine points. Ohud and Ansar are third and fourth with eight points apiece; Hilal and Qadisiya are fifth and sixth with six points; and Wehda are at seventh place with five points. Masera and Nahdah have 4 points each. Nasr at the bottom with three points.
