JEDDAH: Ohud and Al-Hilal rumbled to their second straight victories Thursday night and both teams qualified for the semifinals from Group B in the Top Eight Basketball Championship at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports Complex here.
Ohud followed its opening day 90-69 win over Wehda with a 96-89 victory over Nahda, while Hilal brought down Wehda 91-88 in overtime. On Wednesday, Hilal defeated Nahda 97-82.
Both unbeaten, Ohud and Hilal played last night to decide which team will qualify first from the group. Nahda and Wehda are both 0-2 after Thursday’s games and out of the semifinal race.
Nahda led after the first period 26-17 and the game was tied at half time 47-47. As in its first game Ohud started slow but stepped up pace in the second half once again.
Ohud played its inside game and outscored Nahdah 24-12 in the third quarter leading 71-59. Nahda fought back in the fourth but came up short at the end. Ohud’s top guns were Ian Young with 31 points and 8 assists and Andrew Bryant with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Abdul Mosen had 16 points, and Walid Al-Medani 14 points with 7 rebounds for Ohud. Nahda’s high scorers were Fahad Alhameed 28 points, Demitres Coleman 27 points and 7 rebounds, and Ron Mitchell 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Al-Ahli defeated Ansar 75-71 in the first game for both teams in Group A, where Al-Ittihad opened with a 96-77 rout of Fath on Wednesday.
Ansar dominated the first quarter 25-17. Second and third periods were close with Ansar leading, 59-47, going into the fourth quater. Ahli regrouped in the last quarter and poured in 28 points to Ansar’s 12 winning by four points.
Ahli replaced its regular season import players with guard Ricky Huckaby who scored 20 points and pulled 8 rebounds with 5 assists, and center Jamal Coachman had 26 points and 10 rebounds. Ansar’s high men were Bubaca with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Rashard Phillips 19 points, and Ayman Bilal 14.
The Hilal-Wehda game went back and forth all night with Wehda trying to avoid elimination. Hilal led in the first period 21-16. Wehda climbed back in the game ending the half at 43-43.
The third period went to Hilal at 67-61. Wehda would not quit and battled to a tie at the end of regulation time 88-all, as Hilal missed 8 out of 11 free throws in the last two minutes.
Hilal, however, was not to be denied in the extra period and won a tight game. Hilal’s Kevin Sowell led all scorers with 41 points and 7 rebounds. Ahmad Samanta had 22 points, and James Jackson 20 points and 21 rebounds. Wehda’s high men were Assan Dialo 31 points and 12 rebounds, Zied Toumi 22 points, and Ayoub Barnawi 17 points.
