Two Korean sides to face off in EASL Champions Week final

The East Asian Super League (EASL) Champions Week final poster shared on the Seoul SK Knights' official Instagram account on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The inaugural East Asian Super League (EASL) Champions Week final is going to be an all-Korean affair as Anyang KGC face the Seoul SK Knights in the last round of the international club tournament in Okinawa on Sunday.

The EASL Champions Week is an international basketball tournament in which eight teams from five different countries compete.

The eight teams from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong were split into two four-team groups for the group stage: A and B.

Unlike the usual round-robin format, every team in each group did not play each other, with each team only playing two games.

The top two teams from each group on the final standing advanced to the final, with two second-place teams landing in the third-place game.

Anyang KGC, the current league leaders in the KBL, were grouped in Group A with the Ryukyu Golden Kings of Japan, Taipei Fubon Braves of Taiwan and San Miguel Beerman of the Philippines.

KGC first encountered the Taiwanese side Braves on Wednesday at Nikkan Arena Tochigi in Utsunomiya, Japan.

The game was one-sided from the beginning, with the Anyang side taking the first quarter 24-19 and maintaining the lead until the end. The match ended with a 94-69 victory for KGC.

KGC then played the Beerman at Okinawa Arena in Okinawa on Saturday, putting on an even more dominant performance.

The Anyang side grabbed the first quarter 40-20 and continually overwhelmed the Beerman, ultimately ending the match at 142-87. KGC’s Omari Spellman managed 53 points in the game.

KGC were tied on wins with the Japanese team Kings after their second group game, but booked a ticket to the final as they edged out the Kings on points scored.

The Seoul SK Knights were also formidable in Group B, where they competed with the Bay Area Dragons of Hong Kong, Utsunomiya Brex of Japan and TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippines.

The Knights secured their first victory against the Dragons 92-84 on Thursday, before winning their second game against the Giga 80-69 the following day. The Seoul side’s Jameel Warney was the hero in both matches as he scored 30 in the first game and 21 in the second.

The Knights will now face the formidable KGC in the final at Okinawa Arena at 7 p.m. on Sunday. The most recent clash between the two sides in the KBL ended with an 85-79 victory for the Seoul side on Feb. 19.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]