JEDDAH — Al-Ittihad beat Al-Ahli 73-68 Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the Saudi Premier Basketball League Finals at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports Complex here. Ittihad started the game with its import players scoring 20 of its 26 first quarter points. Ahli put in only 13 points in the first period. Ahli regrouped in the second period playing better defense and was able to score 20 points to close the gap to 6 points, 39-33, at halftime. Ahli got to within a point or two of Ittihad a number of times in the third and fourth quarters, but could not go ahead. With a minute left Ittihad's topscorer Rashad Woods hit three foul shots to end up with 28 points. Tony Haymon added 16 and Mohammed Hassan 14. Ahli's top men were imports Larry Blair (25), Brandon Brown (18) and Fawaz Mohammed (10). The match was played in front of around 5,000 fans. Game four is sure to be just as exciting on Thursday at 6 p.m.
