Panasia slams Satria Muda 71-68

Panasia slams Satria Muda 71-68

JAKARTA (JP): Bandung-based Panasia Indosyntec slammed host
Satria Muda 71-68 after getting second wind during a tight game,
to finish third in the Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league
at the basketball hall in the Bung Karno sports complex here on
Sunday.

The 1999 league champion Satria Muda made a good start to lead
19-15 in the first quarter. Although Satria Muda maintained the
lead after the first quarter, Panasia rebounded in the second
quarter to narrow the gap 29-30.

Entering the third quarter, the game was getting tighter and
more intriguing as both teams were trailing each other in scoring
points. But this time Panasia was in charge.

Panasia went ahead 36-31 but Satria Muda equalized the score
at 43-43.

Satria Muda's players failed to break through Panasia's solid
defense and spent most of the time driving and passing the ball
instead of netting it.

The nightmare for Satria Muda began when Rony Ronaldy lost the
ball in the middle court in the remaining three seconds of the
third quarter to give Panasia an advantage. Panasia ended the
third quarter with a 51-46 lead.

Panasia gained its confidence in the decider and the players
increased their attacks to extend the lead to 60-50 through two
three-pointers from its top player Kiki Susilo.

Satria Muda players slowly trailed the score after getting a
temporary second wind and further reduce the deficit 65-68 when
Roni netted the ball after passing Panasia's tight defense.

Satria Muda scored another two but Panasia was quick to
recover, and maintained the lead at 70-67 for the remaining 49
seconds. Each team then received one free-pointer each to end the
game 71-68 in Panasia's favor.

Panasia's Andre Tiara was selected Most Valuable Player (MVP)
of the match, after he collected 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Johannis Winar contributed 13 points while Kiki and Antonius Joko
each gave 11 points.

For Satria Muda, Roni was the most productive player with 15
points followed by Wahyu Widayat with 13 points and Agustinus D.
Sigar with 11 points.

Panasia's coach Hery Juharso admitted that his players were
sloppy in the first half because of their lack of confidence.

"Actually, we started well in the first quarter but then the
players started losing confidence. This seems to be the norm for
my players, especially when the younger ones start seeing their
seniors playing poorly," he told reporters after the match.

"But they could have built up their confidence later in the
game and eventually taken the third-place slot. I told them
before the match that it was our last chance after losing the
chance to take the title."

Panasia Indosyntec lost 76-41 to defending champion Aspac
Texmaco in Saturday's semifinal. Aspac will face Bhinneka Sritex
of Surakarta in the best-of-three final starting on July 7.(nvn)