Sri Lanka played Indonesia in their second match of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship on Monday (14th November 2016) in Bangkok, Thailand. The early Indonesian lead haunted the islanders towards the end of the match which made the recovery a tough ask. Indonesia won the game when the final scoreboard read 73-41.
Previous Games
- Sri Lanka lost the first match to Hong-Kong 87-41
- Indonesia won the first match against Singapore 75-34
Sri Lanka lost the jump ball as L.Kahol got a hand to it and passed on to A. Zita as Indonesia drew first blood. It was 10-0 run at the start of the quarter until Manthila Gallassage swished a jump shot for a couple points when the clock struck 07:46. Sri Lanka taking considerable time to settle into the game gave a bit too much of points in the first quarter. Indonesia scored twenty-five in reply to the islander`s nine points.
Even though Sri Lanka did grab the rebounds in the defence they were unable to convert them into points on the other end through fast breaks. Sri Lanka topped the cards of defensive rebounds with a total number of thirty-four rebounds the conversion of them into fast breaks has remained at zero.
First Quarter: Sri Lanka – 09 Indonesia – 25
It was the consistency in ticking the scoreboard which Sri Lanka lacked. Even though they did score they weren’t able to maintain a consistent streak of scoring points. The biggest scoring run for Sri Lanka in the game was five points and for Indonesia it was an up high of twenty-five points.
Manthila Gallassage drawing a foul of L.Kahol converted one out of her two free-throws as Sri Lanka scored first in the second quarter. Gallassage scored another mid-range jumper shortly after to cut the deficit down to thirteen points. Indonesia led the game 25-12.
Sri Lanka did get back into the game as they scored fourteen points in the second quarter in reply to the sixteen points of the Indonesians. Yet, Indonesia banking on the early lead was still comfortably ahead.
Manthila Gallassage scored five points while Shereen Preena and Dilumi Goonerwardene scored couple of points each. Resuree Wijesundera also scored three points together with skipper Nirma Sasanthi who scored two points in the second quarter.
Half Time : Sri Lanka – 23 Indonesia – 41
The hustle for the ball and awareness in the defence was the other aspect Sri Lank lacked in the game. Indonesia recorded a total number of 21 steals in the game. Sri Lanka only managed three. After the ten minute break it was crucial that Sri Lanka continue the momentum from the second quarter. Sri Lanka did go onto score a dozen points but the leaking of points bothered them as Indonesia replied back with twenty points.
Indonesia topped the cards in the two-point field goals and three-point field goals with 41% and 25% respectively. Sri Lanka only managed 32.6% of two-point field goals and 22.2% of three-point field goals.
Third Quarter : Sri Lanka – 35 Indonesia – 61
Indonesia fancied all the second chances they had as they topped the list in turnover points and second chance points. Sri Lanka was back in the game during the final quarter as both teams scored twelve points each and the competition toughened up.
Sri Lanka desperately needed that performance in the third quarter to have saved this match and clinched victory. The time was just not enough. Shereen Preena top scored for Sri Lanka with fourteen points while J Elizabeth top scored for Indonesia with eighteen points.
With no hustle to the ball and conversion of second chance possession into points Sri Lanka failed to keep up with the scoring rate. Getting into a bad start and giving away too many points in the first quarter haunted them at the final whistle.
Full Time : Sri Lanka – 47 Indonesia – 73
Sri Lanka will play their third match in the tournament tomorrow (15th November 2016) against Singapore at 11.30 am.
