(Asiad) S. Korea defeats Japan to top group in men's basketball

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea defeated its rival Japan 100-83 to win its group in the men's basketball tournament of the Asian Games in central Japan on Sunday.

Guard Lee Jung-hyun paced the energetic South Korean offense with 25 points, while backup center Jang Jae-seok chipped in 18 points and eight rebounds in the teams' final Group A game at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya.

Lee went 5-of-8 from downtown and dished out seven assists.

Both teams had already booked their spots in the quarterfinals with two consecutive wins -- each beating Saudi Arabia and Indonesia -- and were fighting for the top seed out of Group A.

There are three groups of four, and the top two teams from each group, plus the two best third-place teams, will progress to the quarterfinals.

All quarterfinal matches will be played Wednesday at the same Nagoya venue, with the semifinals set for Friday. The bronze medal match and the final will be next Sunday, the day after the opening ceremony.

South Korea's starting center Lee Seoung-hyun committed two fouls in the game's opening two minutes, trying to guard the 211-centimeter center Alex Kirk. The American-born big man scored Japan's first eight points of the game.

Coming off the bench for Lee, Jang held his ground while contributing four points in the first quarter, as South Korea weathered the storm and took a 19-17 lead.

Japan got called for three fouls in the first 45 seconds of the second quarter, including two fouls on three-point attempts. South Korea drained all six of those free throws to go up by 25-17.

With South Korea up 32-24 midway through, Japan battled back with six straight points.

But Lee Hyun-jung's first trey of the game for South Korea gave his team a 38-31 lead with 2:24 left in the first half.

Japan, though, closed the quarter on a blistering, 11-2 run, which featured a trio of three-pointers in the span of just over a minute.

The South Koreans came out of the break with their hair on fire and found themselves up 52-46 just over three minutes into the third quarter.

Lee Woo-suk's three saw South Korea take a 55-51 lead at the 4:11 mark. Moments later, however, Lee was tossed from the game after getting called for a technical foul and an unsportsmanlike foul for elbowing John Harper Jr.

Japan put together a 7-2 run over the next half minute to go up 58-57 with 3:18 left in the frame.

Then Lee Jung-hyun took over the game.

He dialed in from long distance for a 65-63 South Korean lead with 1:04 remaining, before Avi Schafer converted a three-point play at the other end to put Japan up 66-65.

Lee drained another three on the next possession. And after a Japanese turnover, Lee beat the buzzer with yet another three-pointer, as South Korea took a 71-66 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Japan tried to hang around in the fourth quarter, but Yu Ki-sang's three and Lee Hyun-jung's putback had South Korea go up 78-69.

After a Japanese timeout, Lee scored on a determined drive to the basket for an 80-69 lead.

Shinji Takashima missed a dunk on a wide-open look for Japan, allowing South Korea to push the ball the other way, with Jang Jae-seok making an easy layup for an 86-74 advantage with 4:16 remaining.

And South Korea got the game across the finish line with some strong defense down the stretch, forcing some Japanese turnovers that resulted in easy buckets for the winning side.

Moon Jeong-hyeon then sank a Hail Mary of a three-pointer at the buzzer to cap South Korea's victory.