(Asiad) Sharpshooter trying to keep cool after lifting S. Korea to men's hoops final

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- After sending South Korea to its first men's basketball final at an Asian Games in 12 years on Friday, Lee Hyun-jung was in no mood to celebrate, knowing the job is not done and his team has more to give.

The 25-year-old forward led everyone with 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting, as South Korea knocked off Iran 77-51 in the semifinals of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya.

In a game that saw plenty of bricks early on, Lee was the lone shooting star, making seven three-pointers in 13 tries.

"I think I did a good job reading the game," Lee said afterward. "I didn't care whether I had zero points or 20 points. But I was ready to shoot whenever I had a chance. And if the defense collapsed on me, I was prepared to set up chances for my teammates."

South Korea is now a win away from its first men's hoops gold since 2014, when it defeated Iran in the final on its home soil of Incheon.

This was South Korea's first win over Iran since then, as the six-game losing streak ended.

"Honestly, I didn't really care about that losing streak because I was not around for those losses," Lee said. "Iran is a tough team, of course. And I didn't win this game alone. I had so many teammates do the dirty work to make life easy for a shooter like myself. Everyone on the team is so selfless, and our bigs set such great flair screens and pindown screens for me. All I had to do was take my shots."

Lee also said his scoring chances were all created by strong defense at the other end.

"We held our ground on the defensive end, and we rebounded the ball really well," Lee said. "Transition offense is one of our team's strengths, and we were able to exploit Iran's weaknesses in that area."

In Sunday's final, South Korea will face the winner of the China-Japan semifinal showdown. Lee said those two play "completely different styles of basketball" and voiced confidence that South Korea can beat either team "as long as we are prepared for the battle."

"It will come down to who wants it more," Lee added. "And I think we have to play with a little more composure. We can't afford to get carried away in the final and start doing things we have not done.

"I am satisfied with today's game overall, but we still have one more game to play," Lee continued. "I think we had too many turnovers today (14). If we hold on to the ball better when we face pressure, we will be a much better team."