Indonesia Muda goes down to Bima Sakti in thriller

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.