Credit: DBL.id
Once again, St. Louis 1 triumphed through the brackets only to meet a familiar foe, Gloria 1 Surabaya. On the 2nd of September 2023, they battled it out to see who ruled over the entirety of East Java. Having faced one another just the week before, each side was determined to give their 100% to win it all.
As the first quarter began, both teams looked fierce as they wanted to gain an early lead. Gloria looked dominant as they scored 9-6, but after a few minutes, St. Louis decided that they weren’t going to let Gloria snowball any further and attacked with full force. The quarter ended with a scoreline of 19-11.
The first few minutes of the second quarter were filled with elite defence as the only score on the board were St. Louis with 2 in the first 4 minutes. At the five minute mark, St. Louis 1 had scored 9 points above the enemy. Gloria then took the timeout as they had to go back to the drawing board and slow down the reds who were on fire. This worked as they decreased the deficit by 4 points. The half ended 30-25 with St. Louis still leading.
The halftime show showcased the awards given to the dancers of each teams and continued with an advertisement for Honda’s motorcycle. Then, the third quarter commences with Gloria wanting revenge. The blue stars managed to close the gap to 2 points until suddenly, the MVP of DBL’s East Java region, Justin Patrick, was fouled out. This was shocking to many as he was the spearhead for St. Louis and it devastated the fans. With 2 free throws being given to Gloria, they took the opportunity and tied the game 30-30. Even though their star was out, St. Louis never backed down to the challenge and still led the third quarter with 42-39.
With such a competitive scoreline, everyone was on edge to see who would persevere in the fourth quarter. Although Justin Patrick was fouled out, St. Louis found even footing and built a heavy momentum. At the 5 minute mark, they scored 54-43 on Gloria. Gloria then fought back scoring 8 points in a row, closing the point gap to just 3 points. Behind just a few points, Gloria had to pull something up from their sleeves and fouled multiple times to get more ball possessions. This attempt was futile as St. Louis scored most of the free throws and ended the game 64-57.
Penulis: Bennet Ethan Winoto XI MIPA 6 / 03
