JEDDAH, 8 December 2007 — The top four teams out of 12 that played for the right to go to the championship game of the Prince Fasial ibn Fahd Basketball Tournament squared up in the semifinals at the Prince Abdullah Al Fasial Basketball Hall last night.
Al-Ittihad played Al-Hilal in the evening’s first game and Al-Ansar faced Ohud in the second game, with both Ittihad and Ansar earning the right to meet tonight with fine wins.
Ittihad’s coach from Senegal, Samba Cenee, has done an excellent job running the team. He played the five starters for ten minutes, then the second five for ten minutes, and at half-time Ittihad had a 17-point lead over Hilal, 40-23.
Hilal players could not get past Ittihad’s defense, as the Jeddah team took the next quarter 63-37 before romping to victory 88-50. Ittihad’s Ayman Al-Medani finished with 20 points after hitting six three-point shots in the short time he played. Ali Mugraby hit double figures playing only half the game for Ittihad. Hilal played well to make it to the semifinals, and will be a good competitor this year.
Ansar started out strong against Ohud, ending the first period leading by eight points 17-9. At half-time, Ansar had increased the lead to ten, 32-22. The Madinah teams battled back and forth in the second half with Ohud closing the gap only to lose in the final seconds by two points. Ansar 62, Ohud 60. Ayman Bilal for Ansar made the difference. He hit the three when it was needed, rebounded, and scored inside. Abdul Mosen led Ohud with help from Waleed Al Medani.
Today Ittihad will face Ansar for the Championship at 7:00 p.m. at the Stadium basketball hall.
