S. Korea hammers Indonesia for 2nd straight win in men's basketball
Lee Hyun-jung of South Korea drives to the basket during a Group A game of the men's basketball tournament of the Asian Games against Indonesia at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, Friday. Yonhap
South Korea routed Indonesia 102-48 for its second straight victory in men's basketball at the 20th Asian Games in Japan on Friday, closing in on a spot in the knockout stage.
Forward Lee Hyun-jung scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in a dominant third quarter for South Korea at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, central Japan.
South Korea opened its Group A player with an 82-66 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
South Korea will close out the opening round against the home team Japan at 7 p.m. Sunday at the same Aichi venue. Japan opened its competition with a 98-53 rout of Indonesia on Thursday and was scheduled to face Saudi Arabia for Friday's nightcap.
A dozen nations have been divided into three groups of four. The top two nations from each group and the two best third-place teams will progress to the quarterfinals.
If Japan beats Saudi Arabia as expected Friday night, then South Korea and Japan will each grab a ticket to the quarterfinals. In that case, they will duke it out for the top spot in Group A on Sunday.
The opening ceremony for the Asian Games is Sept. 19, but the men's basketball competition began Thursday. The gold medal game is set for Sept. 20.
Indonesia scored the game's first five points, but then South Korea responded with a 10-0 run. Yu Ki-sang's consecutive three-pointers in the late moments gave South Korea an 18-10 lead after the opening frame.
The teams traded runs in the second quarter. Lee Woo-suk's three-pointer midway through put South Korea up 32-20, but Indonesia hung around and got it to 39-30 at the end of the first half.
The third quarter, though, belonged to the South Koreans, as they opened the second half with 10 straight points -- all of them by Lee Hyun-jung with a trio of three-pointers and a free throw.
South Korea went 12-of-16 from the field in the third quarter, including four of six attempts from downtown, to take a commanding 70-41 lead.
After managing just eight points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game, South Korea kept piling on in the final frame this time.
With backups Moon Yu-hyeon and Daniel Edi joining the scoring party, South Korea doubled up Indonesia 91-45 with 3:13 left, with Moon's bucket with 42.2 ticks left helping South Korea reach the century mark.
South Korea outscored Indonesia 63-18 in the second half.
Along with his 24 points, Lee Hyun-jung led the team with 10 rebounds. Yu contributed 21 points -- all of them coming from the three-point range.