Bima Sakti whips Hadtex 97-53

JAKARTA (JP): A one-sided match opened the first leg of the ninth national semi-professional basketball league (Kobatama) yesterday, which, for the first time in its 12-year-old history has players imported from the U.S., China, Canada and the Philippines.

Spearheaded by Morgan Wheat of the United States and Scott Peterson of Canada, the highest scorers with 36 and 32 respectively, the Bima Sakti club of Malang, East Java, easily defeated the Hadtex club of Bandung, West Java, 93-57.

Peterson was named the most valuable player of the match. He recorded 14 rebounds, one assist and two block shots.

Shortly after the match began, Hadtex aggressively took the initiative but it gradually became apparent that Hadtex was not Bima Sakti's equal.

Hadtex made many mistakes in passing and even though it was strengthened by their two players imported from China, Zhuang Cen Cu and Cai Chang Yi, their shooters were not nearly as accurate as their American opponents.

At 27-37, it was more and more difficult for Hadtex to add points, particularly due to poor coordination among its players. Bima Sakti, on the other hand, was relatively free and scored point after point. Bima Sakti closed the first half ahead 44-33.

In the second half, Hadtex wasted many golden opportunities. Driven by emotion to score, and after some aggressively stealing, Hadtex became more and more error-prone, giving 13 free throws to Bima Sakti.

Around 1,000 people filled the 4,000-seat Senayan basket hall yesterday. "This is quite well attended," said Soedarno, the league's administrator. He said in previous seasons, the number of spectators was so small that the organizer incurred losses.

Soedarno hoped the imported players would attract more people to the matches and invite more sponsors. "So far, sponsors are reluctant to help finance any basketball events we arrange due to poor attendance," he grumbled.

The second round of the league will be held in Surabaya, East Java, from Oct. 26-29, before moving to Bandung, West Java, from Nov. 24-27.

Jakarta will host the final leg from Dec. 14-16, when only eight teams will be eligible to take part in a total of 20 matches. The teams will then be split into two groups, with the top two teams of each group qualifying for the cross-over semifinals. (arf)

Today's fixture: 16.30 Bima Sakti v CLS 18.00 Aspac v Glory 19.30 IM v Siliwangi 21.00 Pacific v Halim 22.30 Pelita Jaya v Hadtex