JEDDAH: Thursday night at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports Complex here, Al-Ittihad turned back a strong Al-Hilal team 99-90 in the Al-Jawal-Saudi Basketball Federation (SBF) Tournament.
Ittihad’s good first quarter shooting saved the game with the the hosts taking a 30-18 lead. Hilal outscored Ittihad in the second period 29 to 28 cutting the lead to 11 at the half 58-47.
Hilal outscored Ittihad again 24-19 cutting the lead to six 77-71 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth Hilal’s import, point guard Kevin Sowell, was a scoring machine and he cut the lead to three points penetrating shooting and passing. Ittihad’s Jaber Al-Kabri saved the day with a completed steal with less than two minuets on the clock.
Ittihad played well in the last seconds and when the smoke of battle cleared they won by nine points.
Jaber Al-Kabri was high man for Ittihad with 25 points, Kelly Wise 18, Danny Johnson 16, Adel Al Johani 15, and Mohammad Hassan 10. Hilal’s Sowell finished with 31 points and 7 assists, Kennon Booker 21, Hassan Zawad 12, and Ahmad Samanta 11.
In the second game, Al-Ahli battled Fath for three quarters before slipping past them to win 82-69. At the end of the first quarter the score was 13-13. At the half Fath led by one 32-31.
Fath with only eight players and only one import player slowed the game down and stayed neck and neck with Ahli finishing the third 52-52.
Sherman Brittingham pulled the game out for Ahli scoring consistently.
In other games across the Kingdom on Thursday, Ansar beat Masera 76-64, Ohud edged Wehdah 77-74, and Al-Nahdah beat Safa 99-79.
Friday’s games saw Ansar beat Wehdah77-71, Ohud beat Masera 72-62, and Khaleejj down Qadisia 83-70.
Ansar sits in first place with Ohud second, being ahead on points because they both played 15 games. Ittihad with only 14 games is third Hilal fourth, with Wehdah fifth. Ahli only has played 13 games and can take over fifth place with a win next week. Ittihad has to wait until next week to hit the top again by playing its 15th game.
Wehdah is losing only to the top four teams and only by single digits, and Hilal is playing strong. The league takes a break for the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup Basketball Club Championships in Madinah.
