Koreans turn back Chinese

KOREAN guard Kim Sun-hyung beats China’s 7-foot star Yi Jianlian for a dunk in last night’s closely fought match at Mall of Asia Arena. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Steady and resilient throughout, South Korea hammered out a stunning 63-59 win over defending champion China last night in the 27th Fiba Asia Championship at Mall of Asia Arena.

High-energy forward Cho Sung-min and veteran guard Yang Dong-geun cooly sank their free throws in the dying seconds as the Koreans escaped with the narrow victory in one of the most awaited matchups in Group C.

Former NBA center Yi Jianlian and shifty guard Wang Shipeng hastened China’s downfall by losing possession twice and muffing their desperation threes.

“They have taller guys than ours, so we really focused on the matchups,” said Korean coach Yoo Jae-hak through an interpreter. “But it’s still a long tournament. I’m just glad to overcome the height of China.”

Yi, a 7-foot rim protector who played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards, was dominant in the paint but the Korean frontline simply held its ground with Cho, Lee Seung-jun and Kim Jong-kyu ganging up on him.

“He’s (Yi) a good player. Tall, fast and we had a hard time defending him. We just helped each other out to stop him,” said Cho, whose free throws with 21.5 seconds left gave the Koreans a 61-57 breather.

Aside from Yi, China has two more former NBA players in 6-foot-8 guard Sun Yue and 7-footer Wang Zhizhi, but the pair hardly contributed to the defending champion’s cause.

“We tried to control the game but they stayed with us throughout,” said China’s coach Panagiotis Giannakis. “Next time, we have to make our shots, especially the easy ones.”

With the game tied, Yi curled toward the rim but missed his shot. Cho was fouled in the next sequence and converted his free throws for a two-point edge, 59-57, with 36.2 ticks left.

Li Xiaoxu’s drive made it 61-59 but Dong again created more space with a pair of free throws before Yi and Wang muffed consecutive three-pointers as time expired.

“We’re in a passive mood,” said Yi. “We have to stay together. There’s still a lot of games coming up.”

Also in their group are Malaysia and two-time champion Iran, which will tackle South Korea today and then China at the end of the first round on Saturday.

China outrebounded Korea, 34-25, but the latter moved the ball better with 14 assists against 10 for the Chinese. They battled for 11 deadlocks and seven lead changes before the Koreans, who last defeated China in the 2002 Busan Asian Games’ gold-medal match, kept their composure in the dying seconds.

The scores:

SOUTH KOREA 63—Kim Joo 15, Cho 12,  Yang 11, Kim S. 9, Lee S. 6, Kim T. 3, Moon 2, Kim Jongkyu 2, Choi 2, Lee S. 1, Yoon 0, Kim M. 0.

CHINA 59—Yi 23, Zhou 8, Liu 6, Wang Zhe 5, Zhu 4, Wang Zhi. 4, Sun 2, Guo 2, Zhang 2, W. Chen 2, ang 1, Li 0.

Quarters: 13-15, 29-31, 46-42, 63-59