Underdogs shock Wismilak CLS and Bali Jeff CSP
JAKARTA (JP): Over confidence brought defeat to both Surabaya- based Wismilak Cahaya Lestari Surabaya (CLS) and Bali Jeff Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) of Jakarta in the third leg of the 2001 Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league on Saturday.
CLS suffered a humiliating 70-66 defeat at the hands of underdog Dwidasa Mitra of Jakarta while CSP was unexpectedly ousted in a local derby with Indonesia Muda (IM) 64-61 at the Bung Karno basketball hall in Senayan.
Heavy favorite Panasia Indosyntec of Bandung was still playing bottom finisher Angsapura Sania of Medan, North Sumatra, as of the time of going to press.
CLS went ahead 16-6 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter, the players became less productive and only managed to produce 10 of 23 field goals to end up with a narrow 31-30 loss.
CLS failed to bounce back while Dwidasa continued the shooting spree to extend its lead to 50-46 in the third quarter.
"Dwidasa intensified the pressure from the start of the second quarter and made all our players lose their edge. Maybe our players were overconfident and they underestimated the Dwidasa players so they were surprised when Dwidasa fought back," CLS assistant coach Sapto Wahyu Purnomo told a post-match conference.
Sapto hoped the defeat would not discourage the team for Sunday's match against top team Satria Muda of Jakarta.
"I hope they will not be affected psychologically by the defeat."
He also said that the team was earlier predicted to win three victories in the leg against IM, Angsapura and Dwidasa respectively.
"But we missed the target by losing to Dwidasa."
IM was downed 19-8 and was jolted by its first defeat at the hands of Panasia in the league's opening match on Thursday.
IM, semifinalists in the 2000 league, managed to narrow the gap to 24-28 in the second quarter after intensifying its defense.
The next quarter saw IM, which lost its key player Rommy Chandra this season, take the lead by going ahead 50-46.
In the last quarter, CSP center Yusak Purimahua managed to get by IM to put CSP ahead 52-50 but only 23 seconds later Lucky Pinontoan managed to close the gap.
Agus Sumantri, Haris Sogirin, Lucky Pinontoan and Indra Allen scored to help IM to a 63-56 lead in the remaining 90 seconds.
CSP quickly fielded Marlon Adirangga -- a former Satria Muda player when they won the 1999 Cup -- who added two points. M. Nur Affandi's shoot from the leftside brought the score to 63-61.
Lucky finally earned free throws after the referee fouled a CSP players and he successfully executed one.
Unfortunately, Marlon failed in his last attempt to earn a three-pointer in the last second.
"We need this victory. We lost on Monday but we played better today. We still have to improve our play," said Indra.
CSP coach Edy Syuganda said his team lost its concentration after leading in the first and second quarters.
"We had a big lead in the first quarter which made the team lose its concentration. When leading, they kept on attacking and went on a rush. IM, with its vast experience, benefited from this situation."
CLS now shares the middle position with IM after collecting 15 points by winning four games and losing seven. (ivy)