South Korea beat Japan in friendly

The South Korean basketball team caught Japan after showing a scary background. South Korea, led by head coach Ahn Joon-ho, won 91-77 in the first warm-up match against Japan against the FIBA Jeddah Asia Cup 2025 at Jeonggwanjang Arena in Anyang on the 11th. South Korea struggled against Japan, but showed its hindsight and won its first warm-up match. Hyunjung Lee (201-G/F-2000, college: Davidson)(25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Jun-Seok Yeo (203-C/F-2002) (18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), as well as Junghyun Lee (191-F-1987)-hyun (17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Yoonsung Kim (200-C-2004)-sang (19 points, 3 assists) showed outstanding performances. Lee Seung-hyun (8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) also showed brilliant commitment. South Korea struggled until the third quarter. However, I was very scared once I went along with the flow. As it was his first warm-up match, he was disappointed, but he showed more power than that. Japan was a second-tier team whose main players were mostly absent due to rest and NBA Summer League appearances. In the first warm-up match, only Josh Hawkinson (208-F-1995, college: WSU) was listed as three players based on the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nevertheless, he boasted good organizational power, skills, and height. However, it did not go beyond the Republic of Korea, which began to get excited once. South Korea and Japan will play the second game on the 13th. South Korea succeeded in gaining the upper hand in the first quarter with Hyunjung Lee and Junghyun Lee making four three points. Lee Seung-hyun and Jun-Seok Yeo Jun-seok joined, and they were not behind in the firepower war against Japan. Kanekawa Nakamura's counterattack was fierce, but South Korea led the first quarter 20-15. He got off to a good start in the second quarter as well. Hyunjung Lee's jumper and Yoonsung Kim's three-point stepback shot led to a 25-15 and 10-point deficit. However, the base of the goal opened up in Japan's rim attack centered on Hawkinson. Hyunjung Lee-joong and Junghyun Lee widened the gap with the power of Hyunjung Lee, but the atmosphere changed after Lee Won-seok's 8-second vial. South Korea struggled with Hawkinson control. Jacob and Canecica's back-to-back three-pointers shook the outer defense. As he continued to play inside and outside Wakuga, he finally allowed a 39-40 turnaround. Hyunjung Lee-joong's "And One Play" pushed South Korea and Wakugawa, who were leading again, to 42-45 in the first half, even hitting a three-point shot after a free throw. South Korea's organic image exploded properly at the start of the third quarter. Kai made four consecutive 3-pointers, pushing away Japan, which was struggling. The under-the-goal loss due to the height inferiority was regrettable, but Hyunjung Lee and Jun-Seok Yeo Jun-seok revived and balanced them again. South Korea finished the third quarter with a 67-65 lead, with Jun-Seok Yeo Jun-seok's three points added. South Korea has maintained a good trend in the fourth quarter as well. After Yoonsung Kim's jumper, Jun-Seok Yeo's fastball and Hyunjung Lee-'s five consecutive points continued, leading to a 76-65 and 11-point gap. Since then, Lee Seung-hyun's 3-pointer and Junghyun Lee's consecutive 3-pointers have sparked fire and led 85-71. After that, Jun-Seok Yeo Jun-seok's show time unfolded. After a fantastic human pace, he dominated the atmosphere, even getting And One. In the end, South Korea beat Japan and finished the first warm-up match with a victory.
Courtesy of: mk.co.kr