JEDDAH: Wednesday night at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports Complex here the top eight teams in the Saudi Basketball Federation began their playoffs.
In the first game, Wehda faced Ohud and led after the first period 22 to 14. At halftime the score was 44-36 in favor of Wehda.
After the break Ohud made its move and outscored Wehda 21 to 12 in the third quarter and 33 to 13 in the fourth quarter winning the game by 21 points. The scoreline was 90-69.
Ohud’s Ian Young scored 33 points, Andrew Bryant 18 and Abdul Mosen had 16. For Wehda Assan Dialo had 20 points, Zied Toumi 15, and Saleh Tacrouni 11.
Al-Hilal defeated Nahda 97-82 in the second game.
Hilal imported a new player and head coach Carlos Knox who earned the win. New player James Jackson scored 37 points in the win and pulled 24 rebounds. Kevin Sowell, the league’s high scorer, had 26 points, and Ahmad Samanter added 18.
Nahda’s point man Dimetris Coleman had 33 points with 6 assists and 9 rebounds. Ron Mitchell had 16 points and Fize Al Hajj 11 points. Hilal’s import players dominated the match scoring 63 points between them.
Al-Ittihad led all the way in Game 3 against Fath winning 96-77 with five players in double figures. Marlon Palmer had 21, Ali Magrabi 20, Ismail Ahmed 20, Jaber Shamrani 11, and Adel Al Johani 10.
Fath’s high man was Yaya Ja with 24 points. Mohammad Sagah had 22 points and Rasheed Powell added 17.
The eight teams are, Group A Ittihad, Ansar, Ahli, and Fath; Group B Hilal, Ohud, Wehda, and Nahda . Each team will play three games in their group with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals.
