BANGKOK (Thailand) - Korea rode their luck and sneaked past Thailand, 91-90, to clinch a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, Thursday night at the Nimibutr Stadium.
The traditional contenders blew a 15-point third-quarter lead and even trailed by a point, 82-81, with 3:34 remaining no thanks to the opposition's rally led by Nattakarn Muangboon, but the basketball gods smiled from above and went in their favor.
Pongsakorn Jaimsawad had the golden opportunity to put the home team back in the lead - and perhaps for good - when he got sent to the foul line with 2.5 ticks left to play, only to smoke both of his charities that left the squad frustrated.
Lee Woosuk also missed his free throws on the other end, but that no longer mattered as time wasn't enough for the Thais to set up a proper shot.
The final buzzer then sounded and the Koreans could only heave a sigh of relief as they evaded arguably the toughest test issued by their Southeast Asian counterparts yet on the way to booking their flight to the continental meet in Saudi Arabia.
Ha Yungi led the side from East Asia with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting, together with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks for an efficiency of 26.
An Youngjun supplied 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Moon Jeonghyeon made 11 points while Lee Seounghyun and Oh Jaehyun added 10 each as they managed to escape despite nailing only 7 treys and losing the rebounding battle, 43-46.
Put to naught by the loss, on the other hand, was the 22-point effort of Muangboon as he starred in their furious fourth-quarter fightback through his hot shooting from deep. He went 6-of-8 from three and also hauled down 8 rebounds.
Martin Breunig notched a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Moses Morgan had 16 points and 8 rebounds while Nakorn Jaisanuk chipped in 10 points.
Boomers go 5-0
Meanwhile, Australia moved a win away from finishing the Qualifiers unblemished after crushing Indonesia, 109-58, at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium.
The Boomers opened the floodgates early behind their hot shooting from beyond the arc, nailing a quintet of three-pointers for a commanding 22-4 lead after the game's first 10 minutes, setting up the rout that eventually kept their record intact.
Now at 5-0, the reigning, two-time continental champions will look to complete their sweep of Group A against Thailand in Traralgon as well on Sunday, February 23.
All 12 players of Coach Jacob Chance contributed at least a field goal in the romp, with the debuting Elijah Pepper leading the way with a game-high 18 points, spiked by a trio of triples, alongside 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 MVP Emmett Adair made a good account of himself in his seniors debut with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. The comebacking David Okwera finished with 15 points as well, together with 8 rebounds.
Benjamn Griscti delivered 12 points, highlighted by an alley-oop jam off a Luke Fennel lob late in the game, in the win that saw the Aussies nail a total of 12 treys.
All in all, the home team shot 46.7-percent from the floor, big thanks to the 33 assists they dished as a whole. They flat-out dominated the boards, too, 51-31.
Lester Prosper, meanwhile, had 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists to lead Timnas, who fell to 0-5 following the loss. Guard Yudha Saputera was the only other double-digit scorer for the visiting side from Southeast Asia with 14 points.
FIBA