Korea Edges Taiwan 72-70
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea edged Taiwan 72-70 Tuesday at the Asian Basketball Championship in Tianjin, China.
With Taiwan up 68-66 with 48 seconds remaining, swingman Yang Hee-jong drained a go-ahead 3-pointer and forward Kim Joo-sung added for the Korean team to stretch its winning streak to five in the tournament.
Yang scored 15 points and grabbed as many rebounds and Kim had 20 points and nine boards.
Head coach Hur Jae's side will play Middle East powerhouse Iran, led by Hamed Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies, on Wednesday night for the top spot in Group E.
Korea got off to a good start, leading 9-0 and finished the opening quarter 25-19.
In the second quarter, Korea held their opponents, who beat them 81-74 in the Jones Cup last month, keeping control of play.
However, Taiwan's tough defense held Korea to nine points and moved within two points behind with outside shots in the third quarter.
At 66-all with 1:50 to play in the fourth, Korea had a chance to go ahead as Yang received two free throws, but he missed both.
But one minute later, Yang cancelled out his blunders, sinking a shot from beyond the arc.