11 3-pointers in the first half alone.
Next up: Thailand and Bahrain on March 2
South Korea’s men’s basketball team fell short of advancing to the quarterfinals after being swept by Japan.
On Tuesday, the South Korean men’s basketball team lost 77-83 to Japan in the third game of the men’s Basketball Group D at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The loss pushed the Koreans, who could have advanced directly to the quarterfinals with a win, into the semifinals.
Ha Yun-ki of South Korea shoots during the men’s basketball group D match between South Korea and Japan at the Olympic Sports Center at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, South China’s Zhejiang Province, on March 30. [REUTERS]
South Korea will face the third-place finisher in Group C in the quarterfinals on March 2. The third-place finisher in Group C is likely to be either Thailand or Bahrain.
For the tournament, Japan fielded a squad that did not include any members of last month’s FIBA World Cup. All of the players who played in the July exhibition against South Korea were also left out,온라인카지노with national coach Corey Gaines taking over the reins for the tournament. Korea was also missing the likes of Oh Se-geun (SK) and Choi Jun-yong (KCC) due to injury, but were still favored to win against Japan, who were effectively playing second fiddle.
However, Korea started the game on a 0-13 run, giving up 11 three-pointers in the first half alone.
After finishing the half trailing 37-43, South Korea struggled again to start the second half, giving up back-to-back three-pointers and two-pointers to cut the deficit to 37-48.
A free throw by Lee Seung-hyun (KCC) with 3:55 left in the game gave Korea one last hope, cutting the deficit to 66-71, but a three-pointer by Japan’s Takumi Saito on the ensuing defense pushed the lead back to eight points.
South Korea was led by Heo Hoon (Commerce) with 24 points, including six 3-pointers, but the defense allowed Japan to make 17 3-pointers in the closing minutes.