JEDDAH — Ahli defeated Ittihad 84-73 in overtime to even the Saudi Premier Basketball League Finals at one win each at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports Complex here recently. At the end of the first quarter the teams tied 21-all. After a grueling second quarter, which saw Ahli make 14 and Ittihad 13, the winner led 35-34 at halftime. The third period had a little more action with each team scoring 19 points each, with Ahli keeping one-point lead at 54-53. However, Ittihad pushed the game into overtime levelling the score at 71-all at the end of the regulation time. Jabber Al-Kabri had fouled out, leaving Ittihad without a point guard for the overtime period. And Ahli outscored Ittihad 13 to 2 in the 5-minute overtime, winning the game 84-73 and making the series tied at 1-1. Ahli's Brandon Brown had 32 points, Larry Blair 27 and Yaya Ibrahim 12. For Ittihad, Tony Haymon scored 25, Mathena Hassan 13 and Rashad Woods 12. Game Three will be on Monday at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Basketball Hall at 6 p.m.
