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.