UPH Eagles on the Greater Jakarta Conference in LIMA

It wasn?t pretty. It wasn?t that fun to watch. It wasn?t the usual UPH Eagles performance that excites the fans in a way no other UPH event can do. But at least fans can smile over the simple fact that the UPH men?s basketball team won against Perbanas Institute, which makes the Eagles the champions of the Greater Jakarta Conference.

This achievement is significant because it is now the second time in a row that UPH has won both the Greater Jakarta Conference?s men?s and women?s championships ? the second time since the inception of the conference system last year. (note: Perbanas had their women?s conference championship last year stripped due to fielding illegal players, making the second-placed UPH to be given the title).

The uninspiring win was also an important result; not necessarily for the glory that comes with a conference title win, but it shows that the Eagles still have some work to do in order to fulfill their potential. With about a month to go until the LIMA Grand Finals, head coach Stephen Metcalfe will look at the game and see what his boys did wrong against Perbanas in the Greater Jakarta Conference Playoff.

Two Sundays ago (6/1), UPH met Perbanas and destroyed them 76-49. Keep in mind that Perbanas are one of the top teams in Indonesian college basketball and last season?s Final Four contestant. The Eagles beat them by 27 points.

A week later, UPH once again had the opportunity to make a statement when they faced Perbanas in the Greater Jakarta Conference Playoff. Perbanas had beaten Universitas Esa Unggul to reach the final of the conference playoff, while UPH had got past Universitas Darma Persada.

UPH picked up a 48-37 win on Sunday (13/1). They did what they had to do to pick up the win. On a night where the Eagles offense wasn?t clicking, at least the defense held Perbanas? main scoring threats at bay. Perbanas guards Richie Molenaar, Rahul Tamara Putra and Audy Bagastyo all finished the game with a measly score of seven, seven and three points, respectively. Lanky center Muhammad Rizal Falconi, who caused so many problems for other Jabodetabek-based teams with his height, was also held to seven points. Meanwhile, UPH pounded Perbanas down low. The team scored 28 points inside the paint, utilizing the strength and size of the post players the Eagles has at their disposal.UPH picked up a 48-37 win on Sunday (13/1). They did what they had to do to pick up the win. On a night where the Eagles offense wasn?t clicking, at least the defense held Perbanas? main scoring threats at bay.

Eagles Dismantle Perbanas to Win Conference

Perbanas guards Richie Molenaar, Rahul Tamara Putra and Audy Bagastyo all finished the game with a measly score of seven, seven and three points, respectively. Lanky center Muhammad Rizal Falconi, who caused so many problems for other Jabodetabek-based teams with his height, was also held to seven points.

Meanwhile, UPH pounded Perbanas down low. The team scored 28 points inside the paint, utilizing the strength and size of the post players the Eagles has at their disposal. Jonathan Hurst finished the game with the MVP honors, picking up 11 points to go with 11 rebounds and six steals.

Not to be forgotten was the contribution of UPH?s other players, which were equally important in getting the Eagles the conference title. Papin Robertus Nadapdap came off the bench to score eight points, eight rebounds and two steals in his 24 minutes in the lineup. Freshman forward Laurentius Steven Oei was efficient in his 19 minutes of play, scoring 12 points from 6-of-9 shooting.

Despite the fact that there were question marks raised about the performance that went along with the conference championship win, the very least that can be said was that the Perbanas game was another obstacle that was taken care of by the Eagles.

The Eagles are still undefeated in the 11 games they?ve played in LIMA, and UPH are still on track to regain the national championship they lost in February 2012, where the Eagles were defeated by Universitas Surabaya in the Final Four. UPH are still one of, if not the, toughest team in the nation and they should be looking forward to the LIMA Grand Final without being overly disappointed.

With one month to go until the LIMA Grand Final, the Eagles have time to improve and fulfill their potential be national champions once more.

There were moments at the start of the game where it looked like Perbanas Institute women?s basketball team might give the Eagles a tough challenge to win the conference finals, but in the end only one team deserved to win the Greater Jakarta Conference.

The last time these two teams met in conference play back in October, Perbanas were playing without guard Hanum Fasya and center Windi Hastari. UPH won 65-10 against that weakened side.

On Sunday (13/1), these two archrivals met again in the final of the Greater Jakarta Conference. UPH had defeated Universitas Darma Persada (Unsada) to reach the final of the Greater Jakarta Conference Playoff, while Perbanas had beaten tough team Universitas Esa Unggul to advance. On paper it seemed like these two teams would square off to create an interesting matchup.

The Eagles were weakened, as during the victory to Unsada, UPH were playing without Mariam Ulfah (slight jaw dislocation) and Maria Belen Alvarez (fever). Perbanas, on the other hand, had Hanum and Windi available for selection.

UPH looked out of sorts in the first quarter, coming up with empty possession after empty possession that frustrated the players and head coach Daniel Rahadi. UPH held a narrow lead at the end of the first, with a small margin of 4 points separating the two teams as the Eagles led 11-7.

Slowly, the Eagles got more comfortable and pounced on Perbanas as soon as possible. The next two quarters, UPH constantly caused problems and outscored their rivals 41-10. By the end of the game the Eagles emerged victorious, courtesy of a 62-22 win.

Perbanas had no answers to UPH?s three-point shooting, The Eagles nailed a total of eight three-pointers — that?s more points from threes alone than perennial contenders Perbanas has as a team.

A vast majority of those three were hit by Putri Nabilla Azwar. Illa ran riot with 15 points, coming of an excellent shooting display of 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Ivonne Febriani Sinatra also added a pair of treys, while freshman guard Nathasa Debby Kristalin scored one three-point shot.

The standout performer of the night was forward Yuni Anggraeni. The freshman has quickly shown her talents, making her a lethal scoring option from the three of four spot. She continued to showcase what she?s got with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and six steals. Those numbers were enough to convince LIMA to give her the most valuable player award of the Greater Jakarta Conference Playoff.

With the title of conference champions resting on their shoulders, the Eagles women?s basketball team can now look forward to a job they did not finish a year ago: the national championship job.

UPH lost to Ubaya in the ACSI Libamanas last year, and this season they look to do finish the season as LIMA national champions. The dismantling of perennial contenders Perbanas shows that the Eagles might go all the way this season.

The new breed of talent on the roster has brought additional firepower to what is an already solid team as is shown by UPH winning the Greater Jakarta Conference, and they could help the Eagles to give the perfect goodbye present for seniors such as center Maria Belen Alvarez and forward Shiela Chen which are soon to graduate from UPH.

Eagles? men?s basketball team has played nine games so far this season and they?ve won every single one of them. Similarly, the women?s team is also undefeated in ten matches.

What?s more impressive is the fact that these victories are not only achieved by beating the minnows. The Greater Jakarta Conference is actually a conference that has two other strong teams: perennial contenders Perbanas Institute and emerging Universitas Esa Unggul Swans. Both of these teams have great men?s and women?s teams that are definitely strong enough to challenge for the LIMA national championship.

UPH?s results against these teams? A huge win for the women?s team versus Perbanas and the Swans, while the men?s team has achieved a hard-fought victory over UEU and a big win against Perbanas.

Coach Stephen Metcalfe?s boys beat the Swans 70-56 back in November, and took a convincing 76-49 win versus Perbanas just a week ago. Meanwhile, Coach Daniel Rahadi?s girls humiliated Perbanas 65-10 in November, and a week ago defeated the Swans 75-39.

One word to describe the total of 19 wins achieved so far this season would be ?domination?. The Eagles look set dominate the Greater Jakarta Conference as they head to the conference playoffs (a tournament pitting the first-ranked team in the conference against the fourth-ranked team and the second- and third-ranked team against each other) to determine the three teams from the Greater Jakarta Conference that will advance to the LIMA Grand Final ? where top teams from each conferences will battle against one another in a group phase before then playing a Final Four.

While it is wrong to underestimate opponents and expect a victory even before a match is played, one must accept the fact that, based on the evidence shown in conference play, UPH should qualify both the men?s team and women?s team. All UPH needs to do to reach the LIMA Grand Final is to win at least one game against the fourth seeded Universitas Darma Persada or, if they lose that match, a game against the losers of UEU versus Perbanas. (Just as a note: it just so happens that both the men?s and women?s standings in the Greater Jakarta Conference have the exact same rankings: 1) UPH, 2) UEU, 3) Perbanas, and 4) Unsada)

Realistically, the UPH?s goal should not only be qualification to the LIMA Grand Final. The Eagles? target should be to win first place in the Greater Jakarta Conference Playoff in order to ensure that they will be the seeded teams in the LIMA Grand Final, thus making the Eagles avoid games against other conference champions in the group phase of the LIMA Grand Final.

The Eagles won?t be shooting for the moon by targeting this. Both the men?s team and women?s team have a lot of talent that makes them capable to reach this goal.

With talented players such as team captain and starting point guard Jerry Ranti, last season?s conference MVP Chandra Prasetya, skilled scorers Papin Robertus and Jonathan Hurst, and talented freshmen Kristianto Halim, Laurentius Steven Oei and Cassiopeia Manuputty, this could be the season the Eagles repeat the feats they achieved in their solitary national championship win in the 2010/11 season, let alone the Greater Jakarta Conference.

The women?s team also has every reason to be optimistic with their chances this season. Finishing as the runner-up of last season?s tournament, the Eagles could do one better than their previous campaign with the talent they have in their roster. A good recruitment over the summer has led them to having Yuni Anggraeni, Mariam Ulfah, Nathasa Debby Kristalin, and Sharah Yunizar Saputra to join already proven stars such as Ivonne Febriani Sinatra and Nur Rahmawati.

Currently, the Eagles are flying the highest in the Greater Jakarta Conference. They need to win their four games (two men?s games and two women?s games) this weekend (13/1 and 14/1) to stay at the top of Jakarta?s skies. Come February, and the Eagles could even be fly high by winning the LIMA national championship. (by Kelvin Tekimam)