JEDDAH, 5 May 2005 — Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad confirmed their reputation as one of the most successful ballclubs in the region by winning the Gulf Cup title before their adoring fans yesterday at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Led by the inspirational Ali Maghrabi, Ittihad beat Kuwait of Kuwait 86-83 in the final match of the tournament that began last Friday.
Maghrabi scored 25 points, 12 of them in the third quarter when Ittihad led by as many as 14 points at 75-61. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out three assists.
Although Ittihad were largely in control of the match they had to draw on their vast reserves in the last three minutes to stop the rallying Kuwaiti side.
Kuwait played full court defense to put Ittihad under pressure. They managed to narrow the gap to 75-74 and after Ittihad responded with a 4-0 tear, the game was put back to square one when Kuwait tied the score at 80-80 with a minute left.
But four free throws, two of them by Abdullah Saraf, and another two with 20 seconds left as against the three points by Kuwait iced the win for Ittihad who won the Saudi basketball championship in March against Ohod.
Kuwait led 23-21 at the end of the first quarter as both teams shot well from the floor. In the second period, Ittihad drained five three-pointers to lead by 45-39.
Powering the ball inside to the basket, Ittihad seized that 75-61 spread.
Saraf also played pretty solid basketball in tandem with Mughrabi.
Ittihad led 72-61 with 1:25 left in the third quarter but Kuwait pulled to within 75-72 going into the last four minutes to set the stage for a thrilling battle down the wire.
— Additional input by Sameer Sheikh and Rafae Ashraf
