JEDDAH, 6 March 2008 — Monday night in Makkah Hilal narrowly defeated Wehda 89-86 in the Saudi Basketball Federation AlJawal Tournament.
Hilal are moving up the standings with the addition of 7-footer Priest Lauderdale in their lineup. Hilal have won four of their last six games leaving them in sixth place good enough to hold down a spot in the top eight for the playoffs in three weeks.
Wehda occupy the seventh spot in the standings with 2 wins and 4 losses. All of their defeats in the last three weeks have been close games losing by three points and one game by 12.
In the other Monday night game, Masera beat Al-Nas 106-96 in a contest between two teams that can not make the top eight but are trying to stay in the top 10 to remain in Group A for next season.
Last Friday, Al-Ittihad routed Nadah 95-60. Once again, Ittihad played with no imports and dominated Nadah.
Jaber Al-Shamrani was hot and scored four three-point shots in the first period, and finished with 16 points. Ali Magrabi had 16 rebounds and 19 points, and Adel Al-Mowalad put in 19 points for Ittihad. Nadah’s import players Derrick Jones and Gentry Lewis put on a good show but were overwhelmed by Ittihad’s defense.
Ahli stayed on the right track scoring a win against Qadisia 90-73. Ahli’s new import players scored over half of the total points. Joe Web had 27 points and Antoine Tesbi 24 points. Yassar Mutar added 13 for Ahli. Qadisia’s import Akheem Wright had 20 and Ahmad Samanta scored 18 points.
With five games left in the season Ittihad are trying to catch Ansar and it is possible. The way Ahli is playing they could beat Ansar and if Ittihad win next week in Madinah Ittihad and Ansar would have the same record. First Ittihad have to get past Hilal this weekend.
