[Anchor]

The men's basketball national team, aiming for its first Asian Games gold medal in 12 years, defeated Jordan in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. With Yeo Jun-seok returning from injury and Choi Jun-yong joining the squad, the national team reached its full strength and poured in a tournament-high 114 points.

Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the story from Nagoya.

[Reporter]

Receiving a precise pass from Lee Jeong-hyeon, Yeo Jun-seok throws down a thrilling alley-oop dunk.

Stepping back onto the court three games after sustaining a foot injury in the first match, Yeo announced a successful return with an explosive dunk show.

Choi Jun-yong, who arrived from the United States and joined the national team early in the morning on September 16, swished the net with his very first three-pointer and showcased his presence by shaking up opponents with his signature no-look passes.

With Yeo's return and Choi's addition completing Coach Mazurs' full roster for the first time, ace Lee Hyun-jung also played brilliantly.

In particular, he effectively decided the game by pouring in 19 points alone, including five three-pointers in the third quarter alone.

As the score gap widened to as much as 40 points at one point, the national team evenly utilized bench members in the fourth quarter. With all 12 players scoring, they recorded a tournament-high 114 points in a single game, comfortably defeating Jordan, the runner-up of the previous tournament, by a 34-point margin.

[Yeo Jun-seok / Nagoya Asian Games Men's Basketball National Team: I don't think there have been many times when every single player scored like this. So I am very happy. We will work hard to show an even better performance in the semifinals.]

Having finished in a disappointing seventh place in the previous tournament, the national team has continued to display fierce offensive power, scoring triple digits for three consecutive games in this tournament and keeping alive their dream of gold for the first time in 12 years.

[Mazurs / Nagoya Asian Games Men's Basketball National Team Coach: If we play maintaining our pace, system, and discipline, we will be able to show a solid performance in this tournament.]

There are now only two steps left until the gold medal.

Our team will clash with Middle Eastern powerhouse Iran the day after tomorrow for a spot in the finals.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Video by Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing by Nam Il)