Suwon KT has advanced to the finals of the KBL Cup with a hard-fought victory over Daegu KOGAS, which tried to make up for its height disadvantage with speed and activity.
KT defeated KOGAS 75-68 in the semifinals of the 2024 KBL Cup on Wednesday at Jecheon Gymnasium in Chungcheongbuk-do.
KT will play the final game against Wonju DB for the championship trophy at 2 p.m. on the 13th at the same venue.
In this game, KT’s ‘height’ and KOGAS’s ‘speed’ went 카지노 사이트 추천 head-to-head.
Using the tactic of putting three guards on the court at the same time, KOGAS, which was still without foreign player Yoo Shu Eun-doye, made a good showing against the ‘big fish’ KT, which reached the championship finals last season, but failed to reach the final stage. They were unable to fully overcome their rebounding (25-45) disadvantage.
Facing KT with a full-court press defense from the start of the game, KOGAS led 43-42 at the half.
Despite being outrebounded 12-21, KOGAS’s guard trio of Jung Sung-woo, Samjosef Belangel, and Kim Nak-hyun succeeded in shutting down the opponent’s main shooter, Heo Hoon.
Heo was held to just two points in the first half due to intense pressure from his former teammate Jung Sung-woo, who transferred from KT.
KOGAS led 17-14 in the third quarter and looked to be on its way to victory.
However, KT’s focus shone in the final quarter of the game. With three and a half minutes left in the game, Rhett Hammons scored a basket to give KT a 67-66 lead, but Andrew Nicholson immediately hit a step-back shot in front of Hammons to give KOGAS the lead again. But again, KT pulled away. With two minutes left in regulation, Ha Yoon-ki regained the lead with a mid-range jumper, and Han Hee-won made it a three-point game.
With a minute left in regulation, a difficult three-pointer by Nicholson missed the rim due to Moon’s relentless defense, but Heo Hoon, who had been quiet throughout the game, overcame Jung Sung-woo’s defense and hit a mid-range shot to seal the game.
Moon Jung-hyun led the way for KT with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Hammonds added 18 points and 12 rebounds.
For KOGAS, Nicholson scored 27 points and Belangel added 20 points.
Earlier, in the other semifinal, DB defeated Ulsan Hyundai Mobis 81-75 after committing 16 miscues.
DB jumped out to a 46-31 halftime lead as last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Lee Sun Albano and transfer Lee Kwan-hee scored 10 points apiece.
Hyundai Mobis’ foreign player Sean Long had a strong first half, hitting seven of his first eight shots, but mistakes hampered him.
The guards, including point guard Han Ho-bin (3), gave away the offense with inaccurate passes, resulting in 12 miscues in the first half alone.
After regrouping at halftime, Hyundai Mobis fought back in the third quarter.
With veteran forward Ham Ji-hoon taking over the offense, Hyundai Mobis found stability and scored 28 points in the third quarter to pull within 59-65 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Hyundai Mobis continued to push forward with Lee Woo-seok and Long, and with 1:29 left in the game, Long scored a one-on-one against Kim Jong-kyu and Kim Kook-chan converted a fast break layup to make it 75-77.
DB grabbed 16 rebounds in the fourth quarter alone, outrebounding Hyundai Mobis to just seven, but their shooting guard Kim Hoon was silent from beyond the arc, missing all four of his three-point attempts.
It was Albano who stepped up as the solution for DB. Albano hit a mid-range shot in front of Han Ho-bin with 45 seconds left in regulation, and then continued to peel away Hyundai Mobis’ pressure defense to seal the win.
In addition to Albano, who finished with 15 points and seven assists, DB received solid performances from Kim Jong-kyu (16 points), Lee Kwan-hee (12 points), and Robert Carter (11 points). Sophomore center Chinanu Onuaku also grabbed 12 rebounds to counter Long on the glass.
For Hyundai Mobis, Long led the way with 28 points. Lee Woo-seok chipped in with 17 points on a combination of inside and outside shots, but was unable to lead his team to victory.