JEDDAH, 7 December 2007 — Powerhouses Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal won their last encounters by beating their respective rivals as the second round of the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Basketball Championship ended here last night on a high note.
The tournament is being played at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal basketball hall.
In the first game, Ittihad played Ohud for the top spot in the final four. Playing their usual game, Ittihad began aggressively and were up by five points at half-time, 37-32.
Five minutes into the third period, Ohud combined their efforts and erased the deficit. Ohud took the lead and kept it until the end of the period. Ohud led the third period by 54-53. But the fourth quarter told a different story as the Ittihad’s coach made some changes installing Ayman Al-Medani to play defense on Ohud’s Abdul Mohsen.
The strategy worked well as the strong Ittihad defense didn’t let Ohud to score more than five points in the last period.
Ali Al-Mughrabi finished with 24 points as Ittihad broke open a surprisingly tight game and out-rebounded the Ohud 67-59. Abdul Mohsen also sparkled scoring 16 points for Ohud.
In the second game, Hilal pipped Ahli 63-62 in a wild hard-fought game that they deserved to win.
The game was a must-win where the winner advanced.
In today’s final four, Ittihad will face Hilal while Ansar will go against Ohud.
