Seeking to reclaim the Asian Games title for the first time in 12 years, the South Korean men's national basketball team delivered the South Korean delegation its precious first victory at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Coached by Nikolais Mazurs, South Korea, ranked 57th in the FIBA rankings, defeated Saudi Arabia, ranked 64th, 82-66 in their opening Group A match of the preliminary round held at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on the 10th.

Today's match was the very first official event held for the entire South Korean delegation competing in this Asian Games.

Seeking its first championship in 12 years since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, South Korea secured a pleasant opening victory, but left a bitter aftertaste by showing its trademark lack of stamina in the final quarter, managing only 8 points.

The men's basketball tournament in this competition features 12 teams divided into three groups for the preliminary round.

The first and second place teams from each group, along with the two best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals to compete for medals.

Having easily defeated Saudi Arabia during the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on August 31, South Korea gained early momentum as Yeo Jun-seok, Lee Seung-hyun, and Byun Jun-hyung combined for 6 consecutive points right from the start of the game, finishing the first quarter with a comfortable 24-17 lead.

Entering the second quarter, as Saudi Arabia suffered from shooting slumps and repeatedly missed the rim, South Korea widened the gap led by Lee Seung-hyun's accurate mid-range shots.

Firmly seizing control, South Korea finished the first half ahead 41-28, with a 13-point margin.

Saudi Arabia, whose field goal percentage was limited to just 25 percent in the first half, failed to show any threatening performance in the second half either.

In the third quarter, South Korea further raised the team atmosphere as Lee Jeong-hyeon landed his first 3-pointer, followed by Lee Hyun-jung adding firepower with two perimeter shots.

In particular, South Korea completely shut down Saudi Arabia's offense and scored 21 unanswered points, completely crushing the opponent's will to chase.

Entering the fourth quarter with a substantial 74-47 lead of 26 points, the team shook rapidly, conceding 10 straight points.

Lee Hyun-jung scored the team's first points of the fourth quarter 5 minutes and 53 seconds before the end of the game, but even after that, South Korea easily allowed a comeback as shots repeatedly missed the rim.

While the victory was protected thanks to the large margin built up early on, it raised concerns by once again exposing its trademark "lack of late-game stamina," scoring only 8 points while conceding 19 points in the fourth quarter alone.
 
On this day, Lee Hyun-jung recorded 23 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals, showing a well-rounded performance on both offense and defense.

Lee Woo-seok also contributed to the victory by scoring 18 points.

Lee Seung-hyun (13 points, 6 rebounds) and Lee Jeong-hyeon (6 points, 7 rebounds) also held their ground solidly by taking on the dirty work.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia's key weapon, 208-centimeter tall center Mohammed Alsuwailem, was tightly bound by South Korea's concentrated defense and managed only 14 points.

Meanwhile, in the tournament's very first official match (Group B preliminary round 1st match) held at 10 a.m. today, Qatar defeated Iran 59-53.

Indonesia and Japan, belonging to Group A along with South Korea, will play their matches back-to-back at 7 p.m. today.

South Korea will sequentially clash in the group stage against Indonesia at 4 p.m. tomorrow and Japan at 7 p.m. on the 13th.

(Photo: Yonhap News)