Kofi Coburn scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, but Seoul Samsung fell into a six-game losing streak with a loss to Anyang Jungkwanjang.

Jungkwanjang defeated Samsung 81-63 in an away game of the 2023-2024 Jungkwanjang Professional Basketball League regular season at Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium in Seoul on Thursday.

Riding a five-game winning streak, Chung Kwan-jang improved to 7-3 and moved into sole possession of second place, while Samsung suffered its eighth loss and remained stuck at the bottom of the standings at the start of the season.

Samsung, which started Ishmael Lane in place of Coburn, a 6-foot-10 center, fell behind 14-26 in the first quarter.

They lost the height battle, with Lee Jong-hyun scoring 11 points on his own, but the tide began to turn in the second quarter with Coburn on the floor.

Coburn, who exploded for 20 points and eight rebounds in the second quarter, focused on getting underneath the basket for Jung Kwan-jang, who doesn’t have a big center, and Samsung pulled within 49-52 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.

After Coburn took a two-minute break and the gap grew to nine points, Samsung coach Eun Hee-seok put Coburn back in to try to fight back.

This time, Kwan-Jang Chung responded with a defense that featured two or three players on Coburn, and it worked, as the team went into the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead.

With the momentum swinging in their favor, Choi Sung-won hit a three-pointer in front of a charging Coburn in the corner with eight minutes left in the game, drawing a foul to put the final nail in Samsung’s coffin.

Coach Kim Sang-sik continued to play big man Kim Chul-wook, who also had a three-point arsenal, and took Coburn out of the game.

On the ensuing offense, DuVan Maxwell scored on back-to-back possessions, and Chung built a 20-point lead.

Coburn had a monster game, grabbing 18 rebounds, including 12 offensive rebounds, and scoring a whopping 32 points on his own, but it wasn’t enough to put the game away.

Aside from Coburn, no one else scored in double figures for Samsung.

On the other hand, Chung Kwan-jang had an evenly matched performance from Park Ji-hoon (16 points), Choi Sung-won (12 points), Lee Jong-hyun (11 points), and Maxwell (9 points).

Wonju DB defeated Busan KCC 87-85 at home to stay on top of the standings (9-1).

KCC, on the other hand, was unable to end their losing streak following their previous loss to Goyang Sono (84-93) despite the return of key forward Choi Jun-yong.

With a 2-5 record, KCC continues to struggle to make the leap to the mid-to-high tier, despite their pre-season hype as ‘favorites’.

For DB, Kang Sang-jae was the team’s top scorer with 25 points.

Dedrick Lawson also had an all-around performance with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Ethan Albano added 17 points and seven assists from the perimeter.

For KCC, Alize DeShawn Johnson had 22 points and 20 rebounds and Jun-Yong Choi had 17 points and seven assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the leading DB. 슬롯