Aspac nears finals with 87-63 win

BANDUNG (JP): The odds-on favorite to capture the league title this year, Aspac, is poised to secure a berth in the league finals after a 87-63 victory over Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) in fourth-day action of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama National Basketball League's fourth series on Thursday.

Aspac is undefeated in three games in the series at Padjadjaran basketball stadium here, while CSP has one victory and two losses in its three games.

CSP found itself down early in the game, but managed to narrow the margin to 28-32 late in the first half. However, Aspac was too strong for CSP, which was relying on veteran guard Nano Sukarma. Aspac went into the locker room at halftime with a 38-33 lead.

Western division leading Aspac is heavily favored to win its final game against Siliwangi on Friday, in what, on paper, should be a blowout. Also matching up on Friday are Mahaka Satria Muda (SM) and Indonesia Muda (IM) Texmaco.

Aspac coach Tjetjep Firmansyah said he would start his top players against prohibitive underdog Siliwangi, adding he did not want to risk an upset by fielding his second team.

"Siliwangi has done a lot of running in the last two games, but they have a weak defense and they don't have any good rebounders," Tjetjep was quoted by Antara as saying.

Siliwangi coach Srigijanto said his team's chances of winning either of its final two games against Aspac and IM were slight.

"Aspac has the league's top players in its lineup. We can only hope for victory in the game against IM Texmaco. I hope my players can raise their fighting spirit," he said.

Siliwangi is winless in 11 games in the league's four series and will likely be relegated. Srigijanto said his players were being groomed for the 15th National Games in Surabaya, East Java, next year.

"My players are aggressive but they lack experience, so they can't read their opponent's strategy," he said.

SM will look to stave off defeat in its game against IM by inserting veteran center Fictor Gideon Roring into its lineup. And IM will play top forward Rommy Chandra despite a knee injury he suffered against Aspac on Monday.

"We will fight all out. We don't want to lose this game," IM coach Hakiem Rachman said.

Not backing down from the challenge, SM coach Rastafari Madjid said: "Our players have had enough rest to recover physically, so we will field our full team." (43/ivy)