Kites SKyrocketing
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
There is no clear leader in the Korea Basketball League (KBL) amid still competition in the second round of fixtures ― with top spot being shared by Dongbu Promy and KT&G Kites.
While defending champion Dongbu Promy lost two games against the Samsung Thunders, the KT&G Kites - on a run of four straight win ― shared first with the Promy with a 7-3 record in the standings.
The Promy, defeated 112-95 by the Thunders in a road game Nov. 18, was seeking revenge at home, but lost 81-78.
Thunders import Terrence Leather dominated the court, earning 32 points with 14 rebounds, with others supporting him by adding eight three-pointers.
Lee Kyu-sup, who led the Thunders to victory last Tuesday scoring 24 points, again chipped in, this time with 15 points.
At 3:00 in the fourth quarter, the Thunders, trailing the defending champion by 66-61, took a 72-66 lead via nine points from Leather, while the Promy wasted three scoreless minutes.
Though Reggie Okosa racked up 13 points with 10 rebounds and five other Promy players ― including last year's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kim Joo-sung - earned more than 10 points, they couldn't retake the lead. The Kites won on the road at SK Knights 79-77.
The Thunders share fourth with the KCC Egis and the Daegu Orions, each with a 6-5 record.
Kites imports Calvin Warner and Marquin Chandler combined to score 34 points with 22 rebounds, and Joo Hee-jung produced 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
It was thanks to Yang Hee-jong, who added two points by free-throw 10 seconds before the end of the buzzer, that the Kites managed to join Promy at the top.
Though Knight guard Kim Tae-sul came back from injury, the team failed to get out of the swamp, losing three games in a row and standing last in the table with a 2-8 record.
Egis, the tallest team in the league, was also knocked off its perch by losing against the KTF MagicWings 70-69 in Jeonju Sunday.
The Egis had a 69-67 lead with only nine seconds left in the fourth quarter, but then contrived to concede two points to James Peters.
Peters and Steve Thomas of the MagicWings produced 30 points and 19 rebounds between them and Song Young-jin and Park Sang-o scored 13 points each, to extend their team's winning streak to three.
The Egis' new import Carl Mitchell, who played last year with the MagicWings, was unimpressive.
Though Seo Jang-hoon and Lim Jae-hyun scored 18 points each, they were not enough to give their team a seventh straight victory at home.
The Egis, which had already lost to the Ulsan Mobis Saturday, dropped down the table in the wake of the result.
With three victories in a row, the MagicWings is close to the middle of the standings with a 4-7 record.
Speedy guard Kim Seung-hyun led the Orions to a 86-76 triumph over the LG Sakers at Daegu Sunday.
Kim, who played only a few minutes of the last two games, produced 10 points with five assists during 33 minutes and Orion's import Garnett Thompson recorded 22 points, six rebounds and four assists with three steals.
While the Ulsan Mobis is ranked third with a 6-4 record, three teams are close behind with a 6-5. Two teams then follow on 4-6. The middle of the table, with six teams closely tied on points, is looking extremely competitive as the second round of fixtures continues to proceed.