Satria to play FIBA championship

Mon, 04/07/2008 11:17 AM  |  Sports

Satria Muda Britama of Indonesia earned a ticket to the FIBA Asian Champions Cup, on defeating Hi-Tech of Thailand 89-69 in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) championship Sunday at Kelapa Gading Sportsmall, North Jakarta.

Satria, winner of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) last year, topped the tournament standings after defeating defending champions Harbor Centre of the Philippines and Malaysia in earlier matches.

"This achievement is beyond our expectations as we initially aimed at a quarterfinal finish in the tournament," Satria Muda coach Fictor Gideon Roring said.

Satria, along with Harbor Centre, will represent the Southeast Asian region at the FIBA Asian Champions slated for May 8-16 in Kuwait.

Fictor, however, warned that the Asian event would clash with the scheduled IBL semifinals and finals.

Former Indonesian national team member Fictor said his team would likely miss the Asian event as it needed to defend its title at home.

FIBA Asia secretary-general Dato Yeoh Choo Hock said he would discuss the issue with SEABA president Erick Thohir of Indonesia to seek a solution to the problem.

In the Sunday game, Satria's key player, Amin Prihantono, posted seven three-pointers out of 17 attempts and two assists.

Hi-Tech guard Padhipat Kanokamornisjn excused his team loss due to poor preparation.

He said his team only had two weeks practice before playing in the tournament.

Later that day, defending champions Harbor Centre beat Malaysia 89-79 to finish second.

Malaysia took a 40-36 lead in the first two quarters of the game, thanks to its aggressive forward Chris Kuete of Cameroon who scored 33 points, two assists and 18 rebounds.

Malaysia, however, could not maintain its momentum as Harbor Centre players led by William Jayson bounced back to grab the last two quarters and win the game. (JP/ind)

A  |   A  |   A  |    |   |    |    |    |  

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.