By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

The KT SonicBoom scored a franchise-record eighth straight win as they defeated the KT&G Kites 86-66 in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province Wednesday.

Forward Jasper Johnson scored 21 points and added eight rebounds and three local players Park Sang-o, Cho Sung-min and Kim Young-hwan were in double figures with 17, 16 and 12 points, respectively, to lift the their team to the win.

The streak began with a 99-87 win over the Daegu Orions on Oct. 23.

With the victory, the Busan-based team, now at 9-2, maintains its lead over second-place Dongbu Promy by one game in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) standings.

"What counts to me is not a winning streak but how to run the team through the regular season,'' said SonicBoom head coach Chun Chang-jin.

"My team has been improving gradually and I will take advantage of players' strengths to the utmost.''

The ninth-placed Kites started fast, fnishing the opening quarter with a 21-15 lead.

But the Chun' side took over in the second.

Led by veteran point guard Shin Ki-sung, Park had 13 points in the quarter, Kim had four and Johnson had eight including two treys, as SonicBoom took a 44-37 halftime lead.

The team sealed the deal late in the third when Johnson, a South Mississippi graduate, had eight points during the period to extend their lead to 72-50 at the end of the third quarter.

Chun, 46, did not allow the Kites to break loose with its well-knit defense and maintained the lead to the end.

For the Kites, Hwang Jin-won, who had 15 points, left the court early in the second half after hurting his left knee and did not return.

At Daegu, point guard Kim Seung-hyun made his season home debut against the SK Wyverns and helped the Orions to end their three-game losing streak.

Kim, 30, who returned from a nine-game suspension for a double contract Saturday, scored nine points and dished out five assists.

Five Orions players, including Herbert Hill, who had 20, notched double-digits in points. Hill lead all players with 12 boards and added five blocks for the team, which ranks eighth at 3-8.

Forwards Lee Dong-joon and Heo Il-yong added 18 and 15 points, respectively.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr