JEDDAH: Ohud defeated Al-Ittihad 63-62 in the final of the Saudi Basketball Federation (SBF) Olympic Under-23 Tournament at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
The event gathered all the club teams in Jeddah with each team’s roster reinforced by two veterans.
Over the eight days of the tournament Ittihad came to the final undefeated, Ohud had only one loss.
First quarter action was all Ittihad ending with Ittihad ahead by 10 points at 22-12. Ohud outscored Ittihad in the second period and trimmed the deficit down to 36- 32 at the half. Ohud battled to within one point by the end of the third canto 49-48. The fourth quarter was a battle with each team going up or down by a point or two until the last eight seconds.
Ittihad was leading by one point and had the ball. Ohud’s veteran player 46-year old Abdul Mosen at midcourt reached out and stole the ball from Ittihad’s Jaber Al Kabri and scored giving Ohud a one point lead.
After a time out Ittihad inbounded the ball with six seconds left. Jabber missed a penetrating layup, they got another try after a rebound and Ohud hit the ball out with 1.9 seconds left.
Jaber tried an off balance shot and appeared to get fouled, but the referee either didn’t see it or did’t call it, the shot missed, and Ohud won by one point 63 to 62. Ittihad settled for second place, Ahli took third place, and Ansar’s Ayman Bilal was voted the tournament’s Best Player.
