JEDDAH — Al-Ittihad ended week 5 of the Saudi Basketball Premier League action with a 54-44 loss to No. 8 Al-Hilal here. Ittihad started with a bang and went up 14-9 in the first quarter. Both teams went cold thereafter and made a lot of turnovers as the second period finished with Ittihad ahead 20-18. Hilal came up with solid defense that held Ittihad to just 6 points in the quarter. The third and the fourth quarters saw Hilal keep pressure on Ittihad and managed to plug the leader's three-pointers, while managing seven of their own threes. Hilal import Radwan Suleiman scored 20 points and Abdul Rahman Al-Dorsiri 14. Ittihad's Jabber Al-Kabri had 14 and Mohammed Hassan 12. Al-Ansar, meanwhile, moved to the top of the league beating Wehdah 75-53. It is now the only unbeaten team in the league. It next faces Ittihad, the only top team it has not played this season. Al-Ahli ran over Al-Nasr 74-44. Ahli import Nate Johnson scored 17 points in the first half and sat out the rest of the game. Fawaz had 19 points and Hassan 12 without playing the whole game, giving the bench a chance for some action. Nasr simply was no match for Ahli. In other week 5 games Fath handed Ohud its third loss with a 93-88 result. Nahdah topped Jubail 83-50, and Khalig beat Qadisiah 83-71.
