Ittihad's Methena Hassan snags a rebound and dunks against Khaleej in Jeddah Friday. — SG photo Umar Abdul Salam Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Ittihad proved its No. 1 standing in the Saudi Basketball by trouncing Khaleej 75-37 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports Complex here Friday night. Ittihad won its first two games without the help of an import player whom it is expecting this week. It is averaging 83 points per game on offense and holding its opponent to 39 points per game on defense. Khaleej's import Antonio Haymon has been scoring more than half the points per game. He scored 39 of the team's 69 points Thursday. Friday he scored 21 of the team's 37 points. Haymon is a great shooter, but Ittihad's double teaming the ball made the difference. Ittihad's stars were Methena Hassan with 23 points, Yaya Iberhiem with 13 and Jabba Al-Kabri with 11. The second game saw Ahli beat Jubail 84-38. Jubail was under manned, playing without its import player and could not keep up with Ahli, which sits second in the league with two wins. In Madinah, Ohud beat Qadisiah 73-57 without three of its best players — Abdul Moshen, Walid Al-Medani and Ayoub. Ohud is third in the league after two games. In the fourth game of the night, Ansar topped Nahdah 64-53 to secure the No. 4 spot in the league. On Monday, Wehdah takes on Nasr and Hilal faces Fath in Riyadh to complete week one.
