Bima Sakti, Pacific survive relegation

Bima Sakti, Pacific survive relegation

BANDUNG (JP): Bima Sakti Nikko Steel and Pacific Caesar took
one victory each to avoid relegation in the fourth leg of the
2000 Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league at Padjadjaran
stadium Sunday.

Bima Sakti of Malang, East Java, overwhelmed Jakarta-based
Bali Jeff Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) 89-79 while Surabaya-based
Pacific outclassed Dwidasa Mitra of Jakarta 76-58.

Home favorite Panasia Indosyntec was still playing Indonesia
Muda (IM) Texmaco as of press time.

With the result, Bima Sakti moved up to eighth place after
winning four out of 12 matches while Pacific is in seventh place
with four wins in 13 matches.

Dwidasa Mitra, which was promoted to the main division this
year, slipped down to the bottom position after it only managed
to win three out of 13 matches.

Four favorite teams -- Aspac, Panasia, Mahaka Satria Muda and
IM -- have secured tickets to the final round in Jakarta next
month.

Bima Sakti took the lead as of the first quarter which ended
in 24-14. In the second quarter, CSP's senior player Nano Sukarma
cooperated well with Ali Budimansyah in a series of
counterattacks and managed to put up a good fight, narrowly
trailing 40-41.

Nano earned 31 points and made four assists while Ali, former
Dwidasa player, scored 12 points and made 12 assists.

In the third quarter, CSP failed to keep its pace and often
lost the ball. Bima Sakti players were successful in stealing the
balls but failed to deliver the finishing touch. Bima Sakti took
over the lead 60-51.

Hendi of Bima Sakti was named as the most valuable player of
the match after scoring 18 points and made a total of 12
rebounds.

Despite making the good start, Bima Sakti coach Gan Hwie Liong
said his team had a long way to go before it could secure its
place in the main division.

"We only needed one victory in four matches in this series to
secure our position. We might earn the points from Dwidasa. We
don't expect something high in the sky," he said.

Dwidasa failed to shine in its first performance here. It was
down 20-26 in the first quarter and failed to rebound in the next
quarters.

Pacific seemed to have a strong motivation to survive in the
main division. The second quarter ended with a 48-36 victory for
the club and after that it was too late for Dwidasa to take over.
Dwidasa only earned nine points in the third quarter while
Pacific made 14 points to end the third quarter in 62-45.

Pacific's Ferry Chandra scored 18 points and made four assists
to be elected as the most valuable player of the match.

Dwidasa's team manager Andre Mamuaya said that his team should
win the remaining two matches to remain in the main division.

"We will try to win over Wismilak CLS and Bima Sakti," he
said. "If we should be relegated, we are ready to fight from the
bottom. We are accustomed to being the last finisher." (ivy)