Sonicboom 75-65 Sakers to reach first KBL championship since 2007

Basketball

Published: 25 Apr. 2024, 12:44 Updated: 25 Apr. 2024, 12:53

Sonicboom 75-65 Sakers to reach first KBL championship since 2007

Suwon KT Sonicboom power forward Paris Bass, left, dribbles the ball during a 2023-24 KBL playoff game against the Changwon LG Sakers at Changwon Gymnasium in Changwon, North Gyeongsang on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Suwon KT Sonicboom beat the Changwon LG Sakers 75-65 in the fifth game of the best-of-five second-round playoffs at Changwon Gymnasium in Changwon, North Gyeongsang on Wednesday, winning the playoffs 3-2 and reaching the 2023-24 KBL championship to face Busan KCC Egis.

A victory did not seem promising for Sonicbom in the first two quarters, as the Suwon team lost the first quarter 25-14 and ended the second 40-30, but the Suwon side bounced back to take the score to 57-54 in the third quarter and went on to win the game 75-65.

Sonicboom power forward Paris Bass was key to Wednesday’s victory, scoring 40 points alone as the top scorer of the game and leading his side to the championship for the first time in 17 years.

Sonicboom have seen little success in the KBL, having won the league only once in the 2010-11 season. They have yet to win the championship, and their highest-ever finish was runner-up in the 2006-7 season.

They had a solid run in the 2023-24 regular season, winning 33 games out of 54 to finish in third — below league champions Wonju DB Promy and runners-up Sakers.

On the other side of the bracket, Egis won their second-round playoffs 3-1 against Wonju Promy and became the first team to reach the championship after finishing fifth in the regular season.

A championship victory for Egis would be their first since the 2010-11 season. The Busan side has won the league and championship titles five times apiece.

Last season’s league and championship winners Anyang KGC — now called Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters — meanwhile, did not even make it to the first-round playoffs this year after managing a ninth-place finish in the league.

In the KBL, the top six teams compete in the playoffs after the regular season, with the third-place team facing off against the sixth-place team and the fourth-place team facing the fifth-place team. The third-versus-sixth-place winner advances to the second playoff round to face the league runners-up, while either the fourth- or fifth-place team plays the league winners.

The first game of this year’s best-of-seven championship between Sonicboom and the Sakers will begin Saturday at Suwon KT Sonicboom Arena in Suwon, Gyeonggi, with the schedule running through May 9 at the latest.

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