Aspac books spot in final tour
JAKARTA (JP): I Nyoman Suandi Menara's throw in the last 40 seconds helped Aspac Texmaco beat Bali Jeff Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) in a Jakarta derby in the third leg of the 2001 Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league on Tuesday.
Aspac strengthened its position in the top standings and booked a place in the final-four berth while CSP was still safe from the relegation zone in fifth place. The league consists of 10 teams from Java island and Medan in North Sumatra.
Another Jakarta-based team, Indonesia Muda, proved its power, although missing key players, by defeating visitors Wismilak Cahaya Lestari Surabaya (CLS) 68-60 at the Bung Karno basketball hall in Senayan area.
CSP players seemed unable to recover their composure after a 56-74 loss to Satria Muda on Monday night.
Without key point guard Ali Budimansyah, who took a day off suffering from exhaustion on Tuesday, CSP could only score three field goals to end the first quarter 6-14.
Aspac surged in the second quarter, with its top shooter Riko Hantono scoring the majority of five field goals to widen the gap to 34-15.
CSP coach Edy Syuganda withdrew his point guard M. Nur Affandy as he had made five turnovers during the earlier two quarters and substituted Faisal in his position.
The hapless CSP still failed to find its best form in the third quarter and saw Aspac win the match 55-26.
In the entire match, CSP only produced 31 rebounds while Aspac made 41. Suko Daryono of Aspac contributed the majority of the 13 rebounds while former Satria Muda player who moved to CSP, Marlon Adirangga, had 12 rebounds overall.
Riko scored 21 points and made three assists to take the match's Most Valuable Player title.
Edy told a post-match conference that the absence of Budi, Ali Budimansyah's nickname, had affected the whole team's performance.
"Budi can make himself the team leader. He is also the playmaker of the team and he showed these capabilities during the second series in Surakarta, Central Java. He can also assist the other players."
He said the next target was to beat bottom finisher Dwidasa Mitra of Jakarta on Thursday.
Aspac coach Tjetjep Firmansyah said his team had not given its all because most players wanted to save their energy for the ABC interclub championships in Dubai starting on June 2.
He also said he had instructed the players to play outside the key areas while the zone was reserved for foreign players.
"They could not play in the key area, it is better to put a foreign player in the center position. So the other players have to accustom themselves to play in the surrounding positions," he said. (ivy)