Hadtex upsets Aspac in Kobatama final<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In a titillating rough and tumble battle,
\ndefending champion Aspac of Jakarta yesterday lost its crown to
\nHadtex of Bandung, its semifinal's runner-up, by just a three-
\npoint margin in the National Pro Basketball League's grand
\nfinal.<\/p>\n
The final 57-54 score showed how muddy yesterday's battle was,
\nwhich made advancing by two points, let alone three, extremely
\ndifficult.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know why our players could not finish as usual,\" Irawan
\nHaryono, Aspac's manager, said in disbelief.<\/p>\n
For Aspac, which had been unbeatable since the league's kick-off
\nin September, the loss was quite anti-climactic. The victory was an
\nunexpected veni, vidi, vici for debutant Hadtex whose target was
\nonly to enter the top eight,<\/p>\n
\"Perhaps we were too tense because as defending champions, we had
\nto win,\" Irawan said, \"After all, they're better.\"<\/p>\n
Suwandi Bing Adi, Hadtex's manager, said the key to his team's
\nvictory was playing slow. \"We deliberately played slow in order to
\nmake them restless and trap them in their own emotion,\" said
\nSuwandi. Another factor was that his team formed a very strong
\nbulwark, Suwandi added.<\/p>\n
Though losing the battle, Aspac demonstrated extraordinary
\ntenacity in coming close to Hadtex, which had taken the lead since
\nthe first half (32-24).<\/p>\n
In the dying minutes, Aspac's Mohammad Rifki shot a three pointer,
\nmaking it 46-45. But a few seconds later, center Casey Crawford took
\nrevenge with two three-pointers to give Hadtex 49-45, 51-47.<\/p>\n
Then, Aspac's errors jacked up Hadtex's score through free throws
\nfrom 53-47 to 54-47, 55-47, 56-49. At this point, Bobby Parks's
\nthree pointer followed by Rifki's a few seconds later made the score
\n56-54 and sent the 5,000-seat Senayan Basketball Hall, which was
\npacked beyond capacity, into a frenzy.<\/p>\n
But at 0:19, Aspac made another error on which Hadtex capitalized,
\nmaking the score 57-54, which the Hadtex players managed to keep
\nuntil the game's end by deliberate delays.<\/p>\n
As the first winner, Hadtex won prize-money worth Rp 20 million
\n(US$9,116) and two trophies, the league's trophy and the Indonesian
\nBasketball Association (Perbasi's) trophy.<\/p>\n
Runner-up Aspac got Rp 15 million and a trophy. Third and fourth
\nwinners, Indonesia Muda and Bima Sakti, won Rp 10 million and Rp 5
\nmillion respectively.<\/p>\n
The other four finalists, Pelita Jaya of Jakarta, Siliwangi of
\nBandung, Pacific and CLS of Surabaya finished fifth, sixth, seventh
\nand eighth respectively.<\/p>\n
Yaksono Soerodjo, the league commission's chairman said this
\nyear's league, which for the first time in its 12-year history
\nfeatured import cagers, was successful.<\/p>\n
Third place<\/p>\n
Indonesia Muda found consolation for its upset loss to Hadtex in
\nthe semifinals with a lackluster 64-58 victory over Bima Sakti of
\nMalang, East Java in the play-off for third place earlier yesterday.<\/p>\n
Man-of-the-match Trasel Rone led the Jakarta side with a game high
\n27 points, including five three-pointers. Nano Sukarma regained the
\nform he dropped in Saturday's semifinal by scoring 17 points to
\nconfirm past champion Indonesia Muda's control over the East
\nJavanese.<\/p>\n
It was Indonesia Muda's second win over Bima Sakti within a week,
\nfollowing its 85-66 victory in their Group B round-robin match on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The organizer announced Bima Sakti's center, Scott Patterson, with
\n344 points as top American scorer, and his teammate, guard I Made
\nSudiadnyana, with 203 points, as top Indonesian scorer.<\/p>\n
Perbasi reelected chairman Harmoko, who is also Minister of
\nInformation, told reporters that Perbasi's national congress, which
\nwas concluded yesterday, agreed to introduce Women Basketball League
\n(Kobanita) next year.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said next year's emphasis of the association policy would
\nbe on training national coaches. Hence, it was necessary to import
\nforeign coaches to train them, he said. Harmoko also said that to
\npromote basketball the congress decided to fix Oct. 23 as National
\nBasketball Day. (arf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hadtex-upsets-aspac-in-kobatama-final-1447893297",
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