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)