Korea beats Saudi Arabia to open men's basketball tournament
Lee Hyun-jung of Korea, right, plays against Saudi Arabia during a Group A game of the men's basketball tournament of the Asian Games at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, Sept. 10. Yonhap
South Korea cruised to an 82-66 win over Saudi Arabia to open the men's basketball competition of the 20th Asian Games in Japan on Thursday.
Former Davidson forward Lee Hyun-jung paced South Korea's offense with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting as South Korea never once trailed in its first Group A game at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, the main host city of the Asiad.
This was the first official action for South Korea at this year's Asian Games, whose opening ceremony is Sept. 19. The men's basketball tournament began Thursday with four games on the slate.
For South Korea, Lee Woo-suk chipped in 18 points off the bench, and starting center Lee Seoung-hyun netted 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Marzouq Al-Muwallad led Saudi Arabia with 18 points.
The teams were tied at 17-17 before South Korea scored seven unanswered points to close out the opening quarter. South Korea pulled away in the second quarter, holding the opponent to just four points in the first 7 1/2 minutes, while scoring a dozen points themselves to open up a 36-21 lead.
Saudi Arabia responded with a 7-2 run in the late moments of the second quarter, but South Korea still took a comfortable, 41-28 lead into the second half.
South Korea then blew the game wide open in the third quarter by outscoring Saudi Arabia 33-19. It featured a 21-0 scoring run, with Lee Hyun-jung and Lee Woo-suk each making a pair of three-pointers.
South Korea took its foot off the gas and managed just eight points on 3-of-20 shooting in the final quarter, but it did not ultimately affect the outcome.
The game was mostly a brick fest, with South Korea shooting 38 percent and Saudi Arabia going 34 percent from the field. South Korea made just seven attempts out of 39 from downtown.
South Korea's next game will be against Indonesia at 4 p.m. Friday at the same Aichi venue. Then South Korea will close out the opening round against the host nation Japan at 7 p.m. Sunday in Aichi.
A dozen teams have been split into three groups of four. The top two nations from each group, plus the two best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals are set for next Wednesday, followed by the semifinals on Sept. 18. Both the bronze medal game and the gold medal game will be Sept. 20, one day after the opening ceremony.
South Korea is chasing its first gold medal since 2014.