SK beats Samsung to escape three-game losing streak
The Suwon KT Sonic Boom kept their hopes alive for a direct ticket to the fourth round of the playoffs.
KT won 85-81 at home against the Daegu KOGAS Pegasus of the 2023-2024 regular season at KT Arena in Suwon on Wednesday.
With the win, KT remained in third place with 32 wins and 19 losses. The team closed the gap back to two games over the second-place Changwon LG Sakers (34-17) and kept its hopes of a direct playoff berth alive.
The first and second place finishers in the regular season of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) bypass the best-of-six playoffs and head directly to the best-of-four playoffs. With three games remaining until the end of the regular season, KT is determined to catch up to LG and flip the standings.
Wonju DB Promy, who won the regular season title, has now clinched one ticket to the best-of-four playoffs, while LG and KT are vying for the other.
KT was led by Paris Bass’ double-double performance with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and three assists. Ha Yoon-ki added 21 points and three rebounds, while Heo Hoon chipped in with 16 points, one rebound, and four assists.
Meanwhile, GAS, already eliminated from the playoffs, remained in seventh place, but fell one game behind the eighth-place Goyang Sono Skygunners.
GAS was led by Andrew Nicholson with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Shin Seung-min with 20 points and four rebounds.
KT started the first half trailing 45-47. At the start of the third quarter, Choi Chang-jin’s free throws and Ha Yoon-ki’s basket tied the score, and Moon Sung-gon’s three-pointer set the tone. Heo Hoon’s free throws and Ha Yoon-ki’s layup extended the lead to 55-47.
GAS tied the game with a three-pointer from Yang Jun-woo and five points from Nicholson, but KT regained the momentum with a three-pointer from Heo Hoon to take a one-point lead, 60-59.
In a tense final quarter, Heo Hoon regained the momentum with a three-pointer and a basket at the start of the fourth quarter, and although GAS tried to pull away in the final minutes, Ha Yoon-ki’s basket with five seconds left in regulation sealed the deal.
The same day, the Seoul SK Knights defeated the Seoul Samsung Thunder 84-75 in a game played at Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul. SK snapped a three-game losing 카지노사이트 streak dating back to Nov. 16 against the Anyang Jungkwanjang RedBoosters and won at home for the first time in four games.
SK got 30 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists from leading scorer Jamil Warney, 15 points, two rebounds, and two assists from Kim Sun-hyung, and 10 points, three rebounds, and two assists from Kim Hyung-bin.
At the same time, in a game played at the Wonju General Gymnasium, Jeong Kwan-jang defeated the champion DB 96-68.
The top-ranked DB rested some of its key players, including Kim Jong-kyu and Kang Sang-jae, to prepare for the postseason, while the win narrowed the gap between them and eighth-place Sono to 1.5 games.
