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High-flying Garuda Flexi Bandung was nearly brought down to earth last week in Surabaya ahead of its date with some of the top teams in the region.

Garuda’s ego took a hit when Pelita Jaya Esia nearly handed it its second loss of the Indonesian Basketball League season. But the 2008 champ was able to dodge the bullet and squeak out a 76-72 win on Sunday against sixth-place Pelita Jaya.

But the scare gave Garuda’s coaching staff all the incentive it needed to buckle down ahead of the 8th annual Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship for Men, which will be held at Angkasa Sports Hall in Medan, North Sumatra, from June 6-9.

Manager Simon Pasaribu said his focus would be beefing up the defense. “The Pelita Jaya game gave us something to evaluate,” Simon said on Thursday. “Our defense is terrible. Beside, we also let the opponent get offensive rebounds. We have to improve for the Seaba Championship.”

Garuda, which has already secured its spot in the final four of this year’s IBL with a record of 14 wins and one loss, has changed gears to focus on the Seaba Championship.

In order to bolster its front court for the regional event, Garuda has borrowed Pelita Jaya Esia forward Andi Poejakusuma and XL Aspac center Muhamad Isman Thoyib. Both Andi and Isman joined Garuda for practice on Wednesday ahead of their opening game on Saturday.

Simon said both players had meshed well with his squad.

“Andi and Muhamad have been with us now for two practices, they’ve had no problems adjusting,” he said.

Four countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore — are participating in the championship. Simon was quick to point to the Philippines, a regional powerhouse that will field a Philippine Basketball Association-backed national team, as the biggest threat to Indonesia’s hopes of winning the title.

“On paper, the Philippines will be our toughest opponent in the championship,” he said. “The country will field its Filipino-American players. But we’ll put on our best effort as we represent Indonesia in the event.”

The Philippines hopes to use the event as a stepping-stone to the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship, scheduled for Tiajin, China, in August.

The regional titan has been honing its team for six months, including two tune-up games with Australia and three matches with PBA All-Star teams.

Head coach Joseller Guiao said there was no doubt his team was headed to China.

“We have a job to do, a mission to accomplish. It’s a tournament we have to take seriously and win, in a big way,” Guiao said as quoted by the Manila Bulletin Web site. “We’re not just trying to win by a number of points. We have to overwhelm the opponent.”

The Seaba Championship will also be a warm-up event for the Philippines as the team prepares for the Williams Jones Cup in Taiwan on July 16-26, and the FIBA Asia World Championship qualifier on Aug. 10-16.

The 8th edition of the Seaba Championship will start on Saturday. Indonesia will kick off its campaign against Singapore, while Malaysia will face the Philippines in the event’s opening game.