JEDDAH, 1 April 2008 — Al-Ittihad demolished Ohud 109-68 and Al-Hilal defeated Fath 108-102 at the start of the final four series in the Saudi Basketball Federation Club Championship Playoffs at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium yesterday.
The semifinal match-ups in which the teams play two out of three games to decide the two teams that go to the finals were sealed after Sunday night’s games. Ittihad beat Ansar 82-77 to oust the latter from the playoffs, Ohud knocked out Ahli 82 -75 to reach the semis. And Fath beat Wehda 95-87 to earn a chance to play Hilal in the semifinals.
Ittihad dominated Ohud in the paint and used great outside shooting to win the first game. Jay Ward was high man for Ittihad with 24 points, Mahmood Abdul Rauf hit 22 with 11 assists, Ali Magrabi had 19, and Adel Al Johani and Marvin Stone 11 each. For Ohud Abdul Mosen hit 22 and Jihad Mohammad 21, with almost no points from the big men. Priest Lauderdale and Ismael Mohammed were at the helm of Hilal’s attack, while Mohammed Fadel and Jermain Lewis led Fath’s losing effort.
