Jeddah United in strong start, Samsung wins 2nd straight

Jeddah United underlined its credentials as a championship contender by drubbing Egyptian Selection 69-41 in an all-Arab Open Rated Division clash even as Samsung cruised to its second straight victory at the weekend in the 1st LBC-Liga Pinoy Basketball Tournament at Ahmad Khaki Sports Complex (Orca) basketball court on Tahlia Street here.
Best player of the game Mursie Akad shot 25 points, Ron Magat added 24 and Robby David had 14 as Samsung brought down Syrian team Avengers 72-69 Thursday and remained perfect in two starts in the centerpiece Open Rated Division.
Jassumah led the Avengers’ losing cause with 19 points.
In a thrilling Inter-Company game, Red Sea Kings battled back from 24 points down in the first half to beat Al Majal 4GS 77-75 Friday.
Three-point specialist Barry Nader led the Kings’ fightback in the last two quarters in the game that was settled in the dying seconds.
Tamano hit a basket with a foul to boot and gave the Kings a taste of the lead at 76-75 with 4.2 seconds to play. Tamano failed to convert the bonus shot but the Kings pulled down the defensive rebound to preserve the victory.
Nader tossed in 25 points, most of them in the second half, while Lagon contributed 21 and Alaiden 14 points for Red Sea Kings.
After a close first quarter Jeddah United of Nadeem Sultani banged bodies with the team of Waleed Al-Khattab underneath the basket while steadily piling up points.
By the third quarter Jeddah United was sitting on a 17-point lead at 47-30.
The Egyptian side tried to work themselves back to the game in the payoff period but Jeddah United was simply the better team on this night.
Egypt’s hard-working Mohammad Falata swapped slam dunks with United’s Tarek Al-Ether in a side show to the game that delighted the crowd.
Al-Ether finished with 11 points and Salman added 8 for United while Falata top-scored for Egypt with 10 points. The game was the first for both teams.
LBC Express Inc. is the major sponsor of the tournament. Bryan Javier, LBC-KSA marketing specialist, helped facilitate the sponsorship.
The minor sponsors are Toyota, Mobily Globe, CEO & X Perfume of Rannie Basanta, Samsung through Muhaid Osman, promotion and development manager, Alicafé and Dole of Multibrands Al Ghadeer Al Arabia of Sheikh Jamal.