Korean basketball team drops even further down the lists after Iran loss

The Korean men’s basketball team lost 89-82 to Iran in the fifth to eight place deciding game at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday, suffering yet another tough loss after losing to China in the quarterfinal.

Men's basketball team crash out of Asian Games after tough quarterfinal draw

The winner of Wednesday’s game at Zhejiang University Zijingang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China would play a game that decides the fifth and sixth place teams, while the loser plays the seventh to eighth place decider.

The first quarter turned out to be a neck-and-neck contest, with the lead constantly changing hands, although there was no medal on the line.

Iran made it 11-5 in the early going, but Korea snatched the lead at 11-9 thanks to Lee Woo-suk’s 3-pointer to make it 12-11. Iran reclaimed the lead at 15-15, however, and ended the quarter 21-20.

The fierce contest persisted through the second quarter as both sides scored points after points, but Korea took the lead back and made it 48-40.

Iran bounced back again during the third quarter, taking the lead at 66-63.

It came down to who dominated in the last quarter to claim a victory and Iran maintained the lead through the end, winning the game 89-82.

The Korean men’s team will now play a seventh place decider on Friday.

As of press time, the game between Japan and Saudi Arabia was due to take place later in the evening. The loser of that game will face Korea.

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