"A 100-Point Game"... South Korea Beats Rival Japan to Advance to Quarterfinals as Group Leaders

[Anchor]

At the Nagoya Asian Games, the South Korean men's basketball national team defeated Japan, advancing to the quarterfinals as the group leaders. The quarterfinal match will be held the day after tomorrow (the 16th).

Reporter Hong Seok-jun has the details.

[Reporter]

Facing tournament favorites Japan without the injured Yeo Jun-seok and Choi Jun-yong, who has yet to join the team, national team guard Lee Jung-hyun soared to the occasion.

Starting with exploding perimeter shots, he seized momentum by assisting teammates' scores with sharp passes.

However, right before the end of the first half, the team gave up three consecutive three-pointers and allowed a comeback. During the third quarter, which continued as a tight contest, a major setback occurred when Lee Woo-seok was ejected after being called for a flagrant foul.

In a moment of crisis, Lee Jung-hyun stepped up as the solver once again.

Starting with a "three-point play," he caught fire from beyond the arc in a seemingly inspired performance, and even nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer to signal the end of the third quarter before roaring in celebration.

Fueled by Lee Jung-hyun's one-man show, where he poured in 12 points in just 1 minute and 39 seconds, the national team maintained its lead into the fourth quarter, celebrating their first victory over Japan in this tournament with Moon Yu-hyun's game-ending buzzer-beater that rounded the score to exactly 100 points.

Lee Jung-hyun scored a game-high 25 points, including five three-pointers, while ace Lee Hyun-jung, despite a cold shooting night, pitched in with 16 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals, taking care of the dirty work.

Center Jang Jae-seok also added strength by scoring 18 points and grabbing 8 rebounds against a tall naturalized player.

Avenging the humiliation of suffering two complete losses in away friendly matches held during Liberation Day week last month in enemy territory just a month later, the national team extended its winning streak to three games and advanced to the quarterfinals as group leaders.

[Interview / Lee Jung-hyun / Basketball National Team Guard : (My teammates) knew my shooting condition was good and set up a lot of things for me, so I think that's why this result came out. I will do my best game by game and run hard toward our goal of winning the championship.]

Our national team will continue its challenge toward its first gold medal in 12 years in the quarterfinals the day after tomorrow.

(Video Editing: Park Gi-deok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.