POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
Hee-Jung Joo
Korea -Japan 68:58
Korea triumphed in the East Asian Championship winning the Final game over Japan 68:58. It was a great game from both teams as they finished the opening quarter with 19:19. Korea grabbed 38:37 at the half and could increase the lead later in the third. After 15-12 in the third frame the winners took 53:49 lead. Korea added 15-9 in the last quarter to clinch the first place in the tournament. Kim Min Soo led Korea with 16 points. Joo Hee Jung and Bang Sung Yoon each scored 13. Kosuke Takeuchi (205-C/F-85) had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Japan and Joji Takeuchi (205-C-85) had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Before that Korea overcame Chinese Taipei 86:71 to advance to the finals. Trailing 15-17 in the opening quarter, Kore produced 17-9 in the second period to stay in front. An offensive 28-27 in the third period gave the winners 6 points advantage after 20 minutes of the game. Another 26-18 sent Korea to the Finals of the East Asian Championship. The winners got 19 points from Kim Min Soo. Yang Che-Yi ended up with 21 points for Taipei.
Both teams made the Asian Championships, along with automatically invited China.
Korea:Kim Min-Soo (204-C-82) 16 points, Joo Hee-Jung (181-G-77) 13, Bang Sung Yoon 13.
Japan: Kosuke Takeuchi 14 points and 12 rebounds, Joji Takeuchi 12 points and 10 rebounds.
