Dibuat oleh Admin. Pada 10 March 2025 - 12:45
Satria Muda Pertamina gave a good response to avenge their two defeats to Rans and Dewa in their last two away games two weeks ago by successfully winning over Tangerang Hawks and their rivals Pelita Jaya this week.
Playing against Tangerang Hawks at their home Britama Arena Kelapa Gading, Abraham et al almost fell. They were ahead by 16 points in the third quarter but in fact the Hawks were able to catch up through actions from Branch and Jarred Shaw until the match had to enter overtime.
However, luckily SM Pertamina was able to perform well by scoring 6-2 in the extra time and emerged as the winner with a score of 99-95.
Two days later, the squad coached by Youbel Sondakh returned to the arena and this time faced their arch enemy Pelita Jaya (PJ). Facing them, SM Pertamina had a lot of difficulty because PJ was able to control the paint area and fast break as their point machine. Even the 2024 IBL champion had led by 14 points before finally in the fourth quarter SM Pertamina was able to catch up slowly.
It was Ali Bagir's tripon who was able to bring the match to the overtime round and this name was also the one who was finally able to make SM Pertamina come out with their heads held high after his offensive rebound in the final minutes was able to find the target. SM won 88-83.
"What is certain is that we really praise God for today's overtime still being given a win. PJ played amazingly in the first half and we were a bit overwhelmed but I am proud of my players because they played with great energy and wanted to fight until the end. Even in overtime we were still seven points behind but they once proved that their determination was high to win and I hope this will always be consistent," said Youbel at a press conference after the match.
When asked about why SM Pertamina could be quite far behind in the first half, Youbel answered that it was because of their own problems which often forced them to always play one-on-one but did not result in points.
"And that was really utilized by PJ to score many points from fast break. Finally I told them to reduce playing with that system but we have to try to share the ball more when attacking them. Secondly we have to be more persistent in terms of offensive rebound and it was proven when we fixed some of these little things we were able to win against them. And what was even more visible was our fighting spirit to win really emerged especially in the second half until overtime," he continued.
With this result SM Pertamina has a 9-2 record and the team that is identical with the color blue will compete again this week against Rajawali Medan and Bima Perkasa. (FR)
