Indonesia Muda goes down to Bima Sakti in thriller
By Ivy Susanti
SURABAYA (JP): Bima Sakti Nikko Steel of the Eastern division beat Indonesia Muda (IM) Texmaco of the Western division by a narrow margin 62-60 on the third day of the A Mild Kobatama National Basketball League's third series at the Pacific basketball stadium on Friday.
Earlier, Cahaya Lestari Surabaya of the Eastern division won easily over Western division's underdog Siliwangi 81-54 before the home crowd. Siliwangi has never won any of six games during the league.
IM managed to tie 31-31 in the first half but the Bima Sakti players put the Jakarta-based favorites under constant pressure in the second half and forced them to stay in the three-points area.
Bima had led 61-58 up until four minutes before the end of the match when IM's point guard Ocky Tamtelahitu successfully executed three free throws to trail 60-61.
Just two seconds before the final whistle, Bima's center Djoened Agung earned one point from a free throw to seal his team's victory.
Bima coach, Armin Johan, said he was satisfied with his players' performance.
"Our players were very relaxed tonight and they developed their strategy well. In fact, IM has many good players compared to the other clubs in the Western division, including Mahaka Satria Muda," he said. Satria Muda, the Western division's runner up, still had to play its second game later on Friday night.
Armin referred to the Western division's players weakness in zone defense.
"Our players developed a solid defense which could not be easily penetrated by the Western players. This is part of our strategy," he said.
IM's team manager, Lexi Rohi, said he was disappointed with his players.
"It's very disappointing. We only needed two points to win. We wanted to win this game but the players' form was beyond expectation. Our next step will be tougher."
Bima's point guard Oei Teng Kun scored 22 points while IM's forward, Raymond Manuhutu, scored 13 points.
Separately, Siliwangi's coach, Srigijanto, was not troubled by his team's record, saying his players were more skillful than those in other top clubs.
"Our young players are being prepared for the 2000 National Games (PON). If we want to win the Kobatama title, we would have called on senior players to play. But I think we can win the title in 2000," he said.
He expressed his hope that his team could avoid relegation by beating a second division team in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) plans to move the league's fourth series from Jakarta to Bandung due to security and commercial reasons.
Doedie Gambiro, Perbasi's official in charge of Kobatama, said Perbasi wanted to avoid any interruption which could possibly happen if social unrest erupted during the 1999 General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Jakarta.
"Even if the Jakarta Police gives us permission to stage the league, we'll insist on moving the event to Bandung. We will avoid moving the matches to other cities during the series," he said.
The fourth series from Oct. 19 to Oct. 24 will feature five basketball clubs from the Western division -- Aspac, Satria Muda, IM, Citra Satria Pelita and Siliwangi.