Aspac labors to beat Glory in Kobatama

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Aspac of Jakarta was forced by little-known Glory to go to the limit before nipping the Semarang club 67-64 in a hard-fought battle on the second day of the National Semi-Professional Basketball League (Kobatama) yesterday.

The match was nip and tuck from the onset, with the lead changing hands dramatically. In the second- half the highly favored Aspac was forced to dig deep into their reserves before finally staving off the stiff, last minute challenge of the plucky Christian team during a five minute overtime after a 62-62 draw.

During the nerve-racking overtime, another 64-64 draw was produced. But Aspac, whose players reportedly get the highest pay, used Felix Bendatu, whose three-point shots were highly accurate, to win three points over Glory.

Glory was not able to retaliate after Felix's shot as Aspac consistently controlled and stole the ball from Glory. Aspac succeeded in maintaining the 67-64 lead, killing time by passing the ball among themselves.

Glory, which fell 75-63 to Pelita Jaya of Jakarta on the first day of the tournament on Wednesday, was led by Norman Marbury and Darryl Flowers of the United States, the team's imported players, to a 38-33 lead during the first half.

In the second- half, scores changed rapidly as time flies: 38- 33 became 40-33, 42-38, 44-40, 46-40, 54-44, 60-50 and eventually 62-62.

It would be hard to imagine Glory without Norman and Darryl who sank 38 points, or 60 percent of the team's total scoring.

On the other hand, Aspac relied heavily on Mohammad Rifki, Tri Adi Loka, Fictor Roring and Felix Bendatu who together made 11 out of their 37 attempted three points shots.

Aspac got 33 points, or 50 percent of their total points, through successful three point scores made by the four.

An earlier match between CLS of Surabaya and Bima Sakti of Malang, both of East Java, was a one-sided game. Bima Sakti who whipped Hadtex of Bandung, West Java, 97-53 on the first day again showed its supremacy by outscoring CLS 75-44.

Bima Sakti was once again spearheaded by Scott Patterson of Canada, 2.10 meters tall, and Morgan Wheat, 1.96 meters tall. The two imported players together made a total of 49 points, or 65 percent of their team's total scoring.

"Yes, it was very easy for me to score," said Scott, who has five-years professional experience in Europe, China, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States.

Scott attributed his team's victory to good cooperation among his teammembers. "My Indonesian teammates are very fast," Scott said of his team's advantages."But they are sometimes too emotional and play too fast, and, as a result, they make mistakes," he added. (arf)

1st day complete results

Hadtex Bandung 57, Bima Sakti Malang 90 Pelita Jaya Jakarta 75, Glory Semarang 63 CLS Surabaya 66, Petrogres Gresik 49 Siliwangi Bandung 60, Aspac Jakarta 78

Today's program Glory vs Siliwangi 4.30 pm Petrogras vs Aspac 7.30 pm Indonesia Muda vs Pelita 9.00 pm Hadtex vs Pacific 10.30 pm