Siliwangi teeters on brink of relegation
JAKARTA (JP): Siliwangi's hopes of improving its ranking vanished with its 49-70 crushing by Cahaya Lestari Surabaya (CLS) on Sunday during the second day of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama national basketball league series at Senayan Basketball Hall.
While Siliwangi will have to try to escape relegation by winning the playoffs, Mahaka Satria Muda (SM) maintained its position in the top four and will likely face the league's top ranked Aspac or second-placed Panasia Indosyntec.
Mahaka SM squeaked by Pacific Bank Swadesi of Surabaya, East Java, in a nail-biting 66-65 win on Sunday. SM was apparently inspired by its defeat of defending champion Panasia Indosyntec 73-53 (33-20) in the last game on Saturday evening.
Siliwangi, which finished 10th in the team standings, will likely vie with ninth-ranked Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) in the playoffs for two spots in next year's league. Siliwangi is winless in its 14 outings in this year's league.
Siliwangi ended the first half trailing by a respectable 27- 29.
But experience really counted in the next half. Siliwangi, which consists of junior players from West Java who are being groomed for the 2000 National Games (PON), could not keep up with the fast pace of the Surabaya club.
Siliwangi's coach Srigiyanto admitted his players lacked the experience to trouble Kobatama.
"They performed poorly. They are still young and do not have much experience," he said.
SM surpassed Pacific in playing skills, with the latter team's players appearing demoralized after losing 39-28 in the first half.
Pacific almost equalized in the final minute before the end of the second half, but SM's Fictor G. Roring and Bayu Radityo were awarded free throws which increased the score to 66-62.
Only one second before the referee blew the final whistle, Pacific's shooting guard Winoto Tjandra executed a three-pointer.
"I was very late in scoring. We should have made it earlier. My teammates regained their fighting spirit in the last minute when they saw that they could equalize with Mahaka," Winoto, who was invited to defend Pacific in the fifth series, said after the match.
SM kept Panasia from developing its strategy. Panasia played poorly and lost 20-33 in the first half.
In the second half, Panasia continued to appear out of sorts and was unable to establish a rhythm.
"We didn't expect to lose this game. All of us played very well but Mahaka played better than us. We'll meet in the final four," I Gede Agus Wahyudi, Panasia's forward, said. (ivy)