Mario scores double-double in Aspac advance

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

League leader HP Aspac continues to go from strength to strength in the A Mild Indonesian Basketball League, with Mario Wuysang scoring a double-double in Friday's victory against Malang Avian Bima Sakti.

HP Aspac hammered home a convincing 90-53 win to stretch its unbeaten run to eight, with Mario scoring 12 points and making 10 assists during the game.

HP Aspac's Andy Poedjakesuma was the highest scorer with 17 points, while Hendi was the top performer for Malang Avian Bima Sakti with 14 points.

The key to HP Aspac's win was taking charge from the opening seconds, never allowing the Malang team to get into its groove.

Mario and Andy were the standouts in leading the domination of their opponents, who were heavily reliant on the skills of Hendi and Iwan Muryawan. Mario notched 10 points and made six assists to help his team take a huge 31-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, perhaps due to the padding of its lead, HP Aspac eased up the pressure, with the gap closing to 51-23. In the third and fourth quarters, the game livened up as Malang Avian Bima Sakti, now with nothing to lose, went on the attack.

It was a case of too little, too late, even though Malang Avian was able to keep the scoring in the last half close.

HP Aspac chief Irawan Haryono said his men went out determined to stop their opponents from settling into their comfort zone.

"We knew that Malang Avian Bima Sakti has a lot of good shooters, so we didn't give them a chance to find their pace," he said.

Malang Avian Bima Sakti assistant coach Oei A Kiat said his players were intimidated by taking on the league leaders.

"So we had already lost from the beginning, but it is OK for us as we didn't focus on this game," he said.

With the win, HPAspac is 8-0 in the league, while Malang Avian Bima Sakti's 4-4 record puts it in fourth.

In the second game, third placed Panasia Garuda bounced back in the fourth quarter to narrowly defeat ninth ranked Kalila 41- 38.

Kalila held a 33-28 lead at the end of the third quarter, with its players' tight defense frustrating Panasia Garuda. But in the last quarter, its players looked nervous and tired, and let the lead slip away.

In Thursday's late game, defending champion Satria Muda Britama defeated Citra Satria 60-45.