JEDDAH — Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli go into the second outings of their Saudi Basketball Premier League semifinals Friday with a win each over their respective rivals. Al-Ittihad beat Ohud 94-75, while Al-Ahli downed Al-Fath 81-72 in their first outings. Fath is playing for its life in the best-of-three series. Ahli had earlier beaten Ansar to make it into the last four. It now faces Fath at home in Jeddah. A win for Ahli will pit it against against Ittihad or Ohud in the finals. Ohud made it to the semifinals beating Nasr. Ittihad has home court advantage and plays two games in Jeddah and one in Madinah. Ittihad outplayed Ohud in the first game of the semifinals with its top first five scoring in double figures. Imports Rashard Woods (31 points) and Tony Harmon (19) showed their form. Saudi players Jabber Al Kabri netted 19 points, Methana Hassan 13 and Mohammed Hassan 12. Ohud's import players point guard Patrick (33 points) and center Paul (15) did the bulk of the scoring as the rest only scored 26 points. Ohud, playing game two in Madinah Friday, has a chance to level the series. If Ittihad and Ahli both win their semifinal matches it would be an all-Jeddah final, the best-of-five games for the Championship.
