POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea won the first match in the Men's Basketball competitions, beating Hong Kong, China 78-71 in Group A on Saturday, after an eight-year absence from the international court.
The DPR Korea won a berth in Group E to continue their trip in the Guangzhou Asian Games. The winners from Group A-D will be re-bracketed to Group E and F to kick off the preliminary round.
It was the first international match after the DPR Korea entered the quarter-finals at the Pusan Asian Games in 2002.
'We were too nervous at the start. It is not only a victory, but a good lesson to the young players. We'll show how good we are in the following matches,' said DPR Korea's captain An Yong Bin.
The South Koreans started the game by trailing 14-3 as the Hong Kong, China team scored 11 straight points. But they soon recovered from three consecutive 3-pointers to close the gap.
Hong Kong, China led in most of the first half before they found a complete different South Korea team after the break, which turned a one-point deficit to a 14-point lead in a 17-2 run.
'The team lost the focus in the third quarter as the South Koreans scored 10 straight points. I hope we could be a better team next time,' said coach Kwong Wai Cheung.
Guards Pak Un Chol and Pak Myong Jin had 19 and 18 points respectively for the DPR Korea, which shot 13-out-of-32 on 3-pointers.
Philippines used a 15-7 run down the stretch to turn the table around when Marcio Lassiter led the team with 16 points.
Source: Xinhua
