By Sophie Mosleh
Jordan’s Al-Ahly, along with fellow Jordanians the Orthodox Club, advance to round two of the International Basketball Championship, held at the Sport City complex in Amman.
Syria’s Al-Itihad received a double dose of Jordanian power after they were crushed by Jordan’s Al-Ahly Thursday night in a nail-biting match that left the score at 84 points at full-time. Given five minutes extra time, the better team proved themselves, battling for a 97-92 win.
Recovering from their loss, Al-Itihad were determined to win their next game, only to receive the same punishment Friday night when they played against Jordan’s Orthodox Club.
Champions of the local league, the Orthodox Club conquered Al-Itihad in a nerve-wracking match that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. In an extremely close match, the Syrian’s led at half-time, and there were times when Jordan thought all was lost, but the vitality and enthusiasm of the encouraging crowd gave them the confidence and determination to fight till the end, winning the game 82-77.
In other games, Egypt’s Olympic National Team shocked Yugoslavia’s Zastava 77-66, after Zastava had exterminated Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ansar 119-77 Friday night.
There are two matches Saturday night:
Al-Ansar [Saudi Arabia] Vs Yombulgas [Bulgaria]
Al-Jazira [Jordan] Vs Wehdat [Jordan] – Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
