Confident Panasia Indosyntec slams Satria Muda 71-68

JAKARTA (JP): Bandung-based Panasia Indosyntec slammed host Satria Muda 71-68 after getting second wind during a tight game, to finish third in the Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league at the basketball hall in the Bung Karno sports complex here on Sunday.

The 1999 league champion Satria Muda made a good start to lead 19-15 in the first quarter. Although Satria Muda maintained the lead after the first quarter, Panasia rebounded in the second quarter to narrow the gap 29-30.

Entering the third quarter, the game was getting tighter and more intriguing as both teams were trailing each other in scoring points. But this time Panasia was in charge.

Panasia went ahead 36-31 but Satria Muda equalized the score at 43-43.

Satria Muda's players failed to break through Panasia's solid defense and spent most of the time driving and passing the ball instead of netting it.

The nightmare for Satria Muda began when Rony Ronaldy lost the ball in the middle court in the remaining three seconds of the third quarter to give Panasia an advantage. Panasia ended the third quarter with a 51-46 lead.

Panasia gained its confidence in the decider and the players increased their attacks to extend the lead to 60-50 through two three-pointers from its top player Kiki Susilo.

Satria Muda players slowly trailed the score after getting a temporary second wind and further reduce the deficit 65-68 when Roni netted the ball after passing Panasia's tight defense.

Satria Muda scored another two but Panasia was quick to recover, and maintained the lead at 70-67 for the remaining 49 seconds. Each team then received one free-pointer each to end the game 71-68 in Panasia's favor.

Panasia's Andre Tiara was selected man of the match, after he collected 17 points and 10 rebounds. Johannis Winar contributed 13 points while Kiki and Antonius Joko each gave 11 points.

For Satria Muda, Roni was the most productive player with 15 points followed by Wahyu Widayat with 13 points and Agustinus D. Sigar with 11 points.

Panasia's coach Hery Juharso admitted that his players were sloppy in the first half because of their lack of confidence.

"Actually, we started well in the first quarter but then the players started losing confidence. This seems to be the norm for my players, especially when the younger ones start seeing their seniors playing poorly," he told reporters after the match.

"But they could have built up their confidence later in the game and eventually taken the third-place slot. I told them before the match that it was our last chance after losing the chance to take the title."

Panasia Indosyntec lost 76-41 to defending champion Aspac Texmaco in Saturday's semifinal.(nvn)