INDONESIAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE : Satya Wacana Salatiga made a great impression in their IBL debut, defeating the Stapac Bandung 102-100 to begin the season. Their naturalized player, Ebrahim Enguio Lopez (often called Biboy) was the star of this game with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. World Imports Jarron Crump and Nate Maxey also had good games. Crump had 17 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists while Maxey had 15 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Heritage import David Nuban had 13 points and 8 rebounds, respectively. The locals for SWS also stepped up, Mustofa Ramadhan had 11 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes, Elyakim Tampa'I had a career best 4 steals to go along with his 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. This victory would mean alot to SWS as they prove to be a solid contender this season. "We have alot of new assets this season that we are looking to exploit and take advantage". Said Efri Meldi, who is the Head Coach of the team. "This was a great hard fought win to say the least, I'm proud of our guys. I know its only one game, but in my opinion, we're ready for the playoffs at the end of the season" said team captain Biboy.
On the other hand, Stapac Jakarta didn't play terrible themselves. Star player Andakara Prastawa had a quiet game with 11 points and 6 assists. World import Dominique Williams had a terrible season debut, finishing with only 13 points, 6 rebounds while shooting 3-19 from the field while also giving up 5 turnovers. His play may have caused Stapac the victory since he's usually so great for the city of Bandung, finishing last season with 29 ppg, 5rpg, 4apg on 46% shooting. His shooting slump for pre-season continues as he just averaged 14ppg in pre-season while shooting 33%, (including a horrendous 21% from downtown) which is uncommon for him, as his fort`e is normally the three point shot. Nate Barfield had a great game with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Heritage import Jerick Bultang (Fil-Am) had 12 points and 7 rebounds also. The locals for Stapac didn't really step up as they usually do. Pringgo Regowo finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds, and Abraham Damar Grahita had 10 points on 3-8 shooting.
SWS lead early in the game thanks to Biboy who had 13 points in the first quarter alone. Dominique Williams wanted to hit back some of those jumpers but missed almost all of them. Crump found a way inside and lobs it up to the open Nate Maxey and he throws it down furiously on Pringgo Regowo to put SWS up 19-10. Stapac tried to have a good ending to the quarter but Satya Wacana had the upper hand. Entering the second quarter, the score 25-15 in Salatiga's favor. Zooming in into the second half of the fourth quarter. With 4:04 the game has been tight since half time. The score is 93-94 for Stapac Bandung. Satya Wacana needed a closer, Biboy stepped up and scored 6 of their last 10 points to push Satya Wacana Salatiga over Stapac Bandung who did not have an answer for Biboy.
Salatiga's next game is on Friday, when they host the veteran BBM Viking Pontianak. That game would be exciting to watch for IBL fans. Stapac will play againts Garuda Bandung tomorrow at 6 PM WIB, the Bandung derby will be played in front of thousands of mixed fans and the atmosphere will be electrifying. See you there IBL viewers!
