Defending champ Panasia certain for final four

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Defending champion Panasia Indosyntec won convincingly 94-50 on Monday against bottom team Pacific Bank Swadesi in the last game of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama national basketball league's fifth series.

With this result, Panasia are certain to enter the final four with 24 points after five series, along with western division's Aspac, who have collected 25 points after four series.

The other two places will be decided in the sixth series scheduled to take place in Jakarta from Nov. 13 to Nov. 20.

The eastern division's runner-up Bhinneka Sritex of Solo were still playing Malang's Bima Sakti Nikko Steel as the paper went to press here at Bhinneka basketball stadium, but, whatever the result, Bhinneka have surely claimed a place in the final berth pursuit, along with western division's runner-up Mahaka Satria Muda.

The sixth series will feature ten clubs from the western and eastern division.

Panasia, who fielded their top team, played quickly to put Pacific under pressure and took the lead in the first half 49-24.

Earlier wins over home favorites Bhinneka last Friday and local rivals Cahaya Lestari Surabaya on Sunday apparently failed to motivate Pacific when facing the giants.

Pacific, who finished seventh in the 1998 league, relied solely on its senior player Pek King-Dhay.

Tight marking from Panasia slowed down Pek's movement and made his shooting inaccurate. After watching their playmaker's weak performance, the team could not develop their strategy.

"We are aware that Panasia play on a higher level than us. We are below them in everything. We've only got King-Dhay in our line-up," said Pacific coach, Amran.

Amran said that his team had not set its sights on the final four. "The most important thing is we can evade relegation. We hope we can finish sixth or fifth," he added.

Panasia's top forward Antonius Joko Endratmo was top scorer with 18 points (eight rebounds and two assists), while David Herryson of Pacific scored 14 points with seven rebounds and one assist. (44)