Mahaka Satria Muda wins 1st Kobatama title
JAKARTA (JP): A free throw from Amran A. Sinta in the remaining 11 seconds resulted in Mahaka Satria Muda (SM) claiming victory in the 1999 A Mild Kobatama National Basketball League's final on Sunday.
Home favorite SM crushed the hope of Surakarta-based Bhinneka Sritex 57-46 to win the league for the first time since Kobatama was staged in 1994. Bhinneka was the 1997 finalist and finished fifth in the following year when SM was the bottom finisher.
Amran scored 14 points, made 12 rebounds and five assists to earn him the Most Valuable Player's title. I Made Sudiadnyana of Bhinneka, who scored 22 points, made eight rebounds and three assists on Sunday, was crowned the league's top scorer.
"I'm very proud because it is the first time that we have won Kobatama. We were one of the semifinalists in 1996 but at that time we hired foreign players," said Amran, 27, after the match.
SM players poured mineral water over the head of their coach, Rastafari Horongbala, after the referee blew the final whistle. Rastafari was hugged by senior players, Wahyu Widayat and Fictor G. Roring, who could not stop their tears.
"I'm proud of my players because they could cope with the pressure during the match. The fact that they have never entered the final has helped boost their motivation to win this match," said Rastafari.
Fictor, who is also a former national player, said: "Entering the Kobatama's final four is amazing. And winning the Kobatama is really a miracle."
Bhinneka was downed 24-34 in the first half, but Sudiadnyana, whose nickname is Lolik, equalized the score to 44-44 at 6:27 of the second half.
The agony was just starting when Wahyudi made a technical foul at 4:15 of the second half and the referee awarded free throws to SM. Amran successfully made the throws to pass Bhinneka 46-44.
Bhinneka was discouraged but managed to score the last two points by free throws from its senior player Lie Tjui Tek at 38.1 seconds.
"I am very disappointed. But that's all what we got," Lolik, also a national player, said amid a horde of fans who were asking for his autograph.
SM left behind a bitter tantrum on Saturday when it was declared a finalist after opponents Panasia Indosyntec declined to continue the match in the remaining 59.6 seconds of the second half.
Panasia walked out on Sunday and gave third place to its longstanding rival Aspac of Jakarta. None of Panasia team showed up when the club was called to receive the fourth rank trophy.
Apology
Panasia's chief of general affairs, Suwandi Bing Adi, apologized on Sunday for withdrawing from the semifinal. By way of explanation, he said a decision by the referee was unfair.
"We don't want to accept the decision. We want a transparent explanation so basketball fans know what happened in the national competition. We want to be professional, but we felt disappointed for the incident," he said.
Team manager Danny Kosasih added: "The club's councilor Awong Hidjaja will decide whether we should take part in the 2000 league. He told me that there was no longer sportsmanship in Saturday's match. I can say nothing, he never looked so enraged."
The Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) official in charge of Kobatama, Doedie Gambiro, said that Panasia had not sent a written statement declaring that it would withdraw from next year's Kobatama.
He also said that Perbasi would consider applying sanctions to referee Hadi Wasito and match supervisor.
"If they are proved to have falsified the decision, we could delay licenses," he said. (ivy)