30-point loss to Hiroshima. Unable to advance to semifinals
(From left) Ho-Hyun Lee, Jun-Yong Choi, Woong Heo
Professional basketball team Busan KCC suffered two consecutive losses in the Asian group stage of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Champions League.
KCC lost 77-107 to Hiroshima Dragonflies of Japan in the second game of Group B of the FIBA Champions League Asia group stage held at the Sheikh Said Bin Maktoum Sports Hall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 10th (Korean time).
In this competition, the winning teams from various Asian countries come together to compete against the strongest team and share the right to participate in FIBA intercontinental competitions.
In East Asia, along with KCC, the winning teams from each league, including China’s Liaoning Flying Leopards and Japan’s Hiroshima Dragonflies, participated, while Felita Jaya (Indonesia) and NS Matrix (Malaysia) also passed the preliminaries and joined the competition.
In West Asia, Alyadi (Lebanon), Shabab al-Ahli (UAE), and Shardari Gorgan (Iran) received tickets to the competition.
The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each and play in the group stage, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.
KCC participated in this competition for the first time in five years since Ulsan Hyundai Mobis in 2019.
KCC, who lost to Iran’s Shardari Gorgan by 23 points the previous day, also bowed to Hiroshima Dragonflies by 30 points that day, making it impossible for them to advance to the semifinals on their own.
KCC has suffered only two losses without a win.
If Shardari Gorgan defeats Felita Jaya in the following game, KCC’s chances of finishing second in Group B will disappear and elimination from the group stage will be confirmed.
KCC will play the third game of Group B against Pelita Jaya on the 12th.
KCC, without foreign players Laguna and Alize DeShawn Johnson, quickly recruited Dion Thompson and Alphonso McKinney for this tournament.
However, McKinney broke his knee during the match against Shardari Gorgan the previous day, and was unable to participate in the match due to water build-up in his knee.
KCC, who had been playing a see-saw game with Hiroshima at the beginning of the game, quickly collapsed, giving up 18 points to their opponent at the end of the first quarter.
In this process, Heo Woong and Choi Jun-yong’s shots both missed the rim, and Song Kyo-chang and Choi Jun-yong made mistakes in succession, completely losing the initiative, ending the first quarter at 17-33.
KCC made four mistakes in the second quarter and lost their right to attack, and gave up three three-point shots to the opponent, ending the first half with a score of 32-54.
In the third quarter, Geun-Hwi Lee fought hard by hitting three outside shots, but the gap with Hiroshima widened to 26 points, and he showed lethargy in the fourth quarter and was unable to turn the game around.
KCC’s Thompson scored 16 points and 6 rebounds, and Geun-Hwi Lee scored 14 points, including 4 3-pointers. Heo Woong and Choi Jun-yong only scored 6 points each. 섯다