Kalila chalks up 2nd win in IBL 4th series

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Kalila of Jakarta has continued its winning streak in the fourth series of the A Mild Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) by thrashing Citra Satria 67-35 here on Sunday.

Taking to the court with a morale-boosting win over Angsapura Sania on the opening day, Kalila found itself trailing early before stepping up the pace to close down their opponent.

The win brought relief to the team.

"Our victory over Angsapura Sania on Saturday helped our players find their confidence. They played with high spirits to beat Citra Satria," team manager Zainul Hilal said after the game.

Zainul praised his players whom he said had followed his instructions perfectly during the game.

Avian Bimasakti Malang also scored its second win in the series with a 66-48 drubbing of Angsapura.

Citra Satria sprang a surprise when it took an early 8-0 lead from a series of fast breaks, but Kalila players confidently built up on their pace to close the gap to 12-13 by the end of the first quarter.

Kalila's men began to look dominant with Kelly Purwanto and Yudhi Mardiansyah easily breaking Citra Satria's defense to help the team pull away to 14-13 and 20-15.

Citra Satria did not look to have the weapons to counter, with Romi Tanaka and Iwan Hermawan frequently misfiring.

Enjoying a 30-18 lead after the second quarter, Kalila made rotations of his players. Still, they remained dominant, with Yudhi and Reyndra Maruty running hot, particularly in the fourth quarter.

While Kalila has now balanced its win-loss record in their four matches, the defeat for Citra Satria has been its sixth on the trot.

Citra Satria coach Bella Erwin Harahap said that his players only played well in the first quarter, but after that failed to maintain the rhythm in the following quarters.

"They played individually instead of working as a team. The teamup deserted them from the second quarter," he said.

"Therefore, we could not maintain our lead in the first quarter.

"Our players continued to be too focused on offense and they forgot defense. This was exploited by Kalila players as they broke our defense easily and scored many points," he said.

Erwin put the defeat partly down to the loss of a number of strong players after the end of the 2004 season.

"We may need to recruit more strong players to shore up the defense," he said.