Favorites chalk up wins in basketball competition

Favorites chalk up wins in basketball competition

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

Play began in the men's division of the basketball
competitionon at the National Games on Wednesday with West Java
and East Java living up to expectations by beating their
respective opponents.

West Java edged North Sumatra 67-51, while East Java
outclassed South Kalimantan 88-25 in their Pool A matches.

Starting at 8 a.m. in the morning local time, the match
between West Java and North Sumatra was lackluster, with neither
side used to playing at such an early hour.

Led by forward Yuliano Ghandi, West Java proved itself the
better side by controlling the game throughout.

After winning the fist quarter 21-14, West Java's players
looked relaxed but were still able to produce a 14-12 win in the
second quarter for a 35-26 lead.

North Sumatra battled back to take the third quarter 16-13
only to lose 19-12 in the final quarter.

Yuliano scored 27 points for West Java while Vovories Palopo
was the highest-scoring player for North Sumatra with 16 points.

"We are not used to playing that early in the morning. We
found it hard to get our game together and maintain our defense,"
West Java coach Winduartho told reporters after the match.

North Sumatra coach Freddy Marcos Gorey appeared disappointed,
but he refused to make excuses, admitting candidly that his
players's had failed to defend their space and allowed their
opponents to get themselves within scoring distance.

"I don't think West Java is a special team. We were equally
strong. We could have beaten them ... it was just that my players
were not disciplined in defense," he said.

In another match, East Java proved too strong for South
Kalimantan, particularly in the second quarter when the Javanese
allowed their opponents to score only two points.

Arif Firmansyah led the scoring with 14 points, followed by
Agustinus Indrajaya and Hendri Sudjanae on 11 points each.