Led by 27 points from ‘freshman’ Paris Bass, Suwon KT defeated Wonju DB in overtime to reach the quarterfinals of the KBL Cup competition.
KT defeated DB 108-106 in the final game of Group A of the 2023 MG Saekmaekgeum KBL Cup at Wolmyeong Gymnasium in 온라인카지노 Gunsan on Wednesday.
In the tournament, two or three teams play in a group and then the top four teams in each group advance to determine the winner.
In Group A, defending champion KT secured a spot in the quarterfinals by topping the group with two wins. KT defeated Sangmu 102-84 on Nov. 8.
Leading by 16 points, 67-51, with 6:50 left in the third quarter, KT gave up nine points to Lee Sun Albano in the fourth quarter alone.
Down 90-94 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, KT seemed to have lost the game, but new foreign player Bass came to the rescue.
After a free throw by Choi Sung-mo made it a two-point game, KT tied the game with 1:23 left in the quarter when Bass intercepted a pass from Minsoo Shin and dunked the ball.
Soon after, Albano made two free throws from a breakaway to give DB the lead, but Bass scored again on a fast break 10 seconds before the end of the quarter to force the game into overtime.
In overtime, it was Filipino Shaun Dave Ildefonso, who has been playing in the KBL since last season under the Asian Quarter System. Down 103-104 with 30 seconds left in regulation, Ildefonso hit a three-pointer to turn the game around.
Bass led the way with 27 points and four steals. Center Lee Doo-Won chipped in with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Ildefonso added 14 points.
Moon Jung-hyun, who joined KT as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 rookie draft, played 28 minutes in his debut game and had seven points and five rebounds. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts.
At DB, Albano led the way with 20 points and 11 assists. Lawson also exploded for a game-high 37 points, but KT’s offense in the closing minutes stole the victory.
Seoul SK also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Goyang Sono 88-80 in the final Group C game. With two wins in Group C, SK finished ahead of Seoul Samsung (1 win, 1 loss) and Sono (2 losses) to clinch first place in the group.
Both SK and Sono rested their respective ace guards Kim Sun-hyung and Lee Jung-hyun, who both played in the Hangzhou Asian Games for their national teams. In addition, Sono head coach Kim Seung-ki went into the game with a virtually empty bench, not including shooter Jeon Seong-hyun, who was called up to the national team along with Lee.
Despite playing only the first half, Jeon finished with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, the most of any Sono domestic player. Sono’s foreign player Jerod Jones also chipped in with 23 points and six rebounds. For SK, Jamil Warney had 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace Sono under the basket.
Oh Se-geun, who switched jerseys from Anyang to “rival” SK at the end of the 2022-2023 season, showed off his skills with 11 points and nine rebounds in just over 16 minutes.