The Korean men’s basketball team lost to Japan 80-88 in the 2024 Soft Bank Cup warm-up match held at Ariake Arena in Koto Ward, Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. The team finished two warm-up matches with one win and one loss.
South Korea’s Lee Jung-hyun (6 6-point 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 5 assists), Lee Won-seok (18 points), and Yoo Ki-sang (17 3-point shots, 5 rebounds) fought hard, but in the third quarter, the rebound inferiority (24-45) and the referee’s unilateral whistle were hampered.
Korea started off in a good mood. Starting with Lee Woo-suk’s score, Yoo Ki-sang scored two 3-pointers, setting the mood. Lee Jung-hyun and Yang Jae-min also joined the scoring team. It was Lee Won-seok who played the leading role in the last minute of the quarter. He scored seven points by earning two fouls and free throws. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 22-19, which was Korea’s narrow lead.
Korea failed to keep its lead in the second quarter. It started with 3-pointers by Lee Won-seok and Lee Jung-hyun. Josh Hawkinson struggled under the basket, and Akira Jacobs allowed an outfielder. Koya Kawamata and Yuki Kawamura also lost points.
Korea was chased by organic 3-pointers, but failed to overcome its overwhelming inferiority in rebounding (7-19). At the end of the first half, the score was 39-43, with Korea trailing.
Korea was even more shaky in the third quarter. Korea lost to Hawkinson right after the start, and even gave up three consecutive three-point shots to Kawamura. He seemed to counterattack by scoring an outfielder’s outfielder and Lee Won-seok, but failed to control Akira’s outfielder. Korea finished the third quarter 57-68. 슬롯사이트 순위
Early in the fourth quarter, Korea seemed to be on the trail with Lee Jung-hyun’s back-to-back 3-pointers, but Japan countered with Hawkinson and Tomina Keisei’s back-to-back shots. Then, Korea lost points to Kawamura in a row. Again, Lee scored, narrowing the gap to a six-point deficit (77-83). However, the referee’s decision, which had been unilateral throughout the match, cut Korea’s pulse and lost power by allowing Japan to score again.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Rui Hachimura (Lakers) and Utah Watanabe (Mempsis) did not play, but Hawkinson (34 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists) and Kawamura (17 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists) avenged their defeat in the first round.