(2nd LD) (Asiad) S. Korea blows out Jordan to reach men's basketball semifinals

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea breezed past Jordan 114-80 to reach the semifinals of the men's basketball tournament at the Asian Games in Japan on Wednesday, moving within two wins of claiming its first gold medal in a dozen years.

South Korea dominated Jordan in all aspects in the blowout quarterfinal victory at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, central Japan, where forward Lee Hyun-jung led the way with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting in just under 21 minutes of action. He drained six three-pointers in 10 attempts and also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Coached by Nikolajs Mazurs, South Korea has now won four straight games in Nagoya, having run the table in the preliminary phase with wins over Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Japan.

In Friday's semifinals, South Korea will face Iran, which knocked off Bahrain 79-74 in the quarterfinals right after the South Korean win.

The two other quarterfinal matches are: China versus Saudi Arabia, and Japan against Chinese Taipei.

South Korea last won the men's hoops gold medal in 2014 on its home soil of Incheon. South Korea then settled for bronze in 2018 before getting eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2023.

South Korea set the tone early, starting the game with a 10-0 run and playing some smothering defense. South Korea collected five steals in the first quarter as it built a 28-8 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Jordan only got its first basket 3:34 into the game and never found its offensive rhythm, often turning to the U.S.-born forward Perrin Buford to create something out of nothing in isolation.

South Korea kept the pedal to the metal in the second quarter. Its lead grew to 37-11 after Yu Ki-sang sank two free throws on an unsportsmanlike foul by Fadi Mustafa.

After Jordan got two quick buckets, South Korea snuffed out any hope of a rally with five unanswered points.
Forward Choi Jun-yong, who arrived in Japan late Tuesday after trying to land a contract with a U.S. team, made his Nagoya debut with a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 42-15 at 5:05 mark.

Guard Lee Jung-hyun joined the party with back-to-back treys that made it a 48-16 game for South Korea with three minutes left in the first half.

The Jordanians closed the second quarter on an 11-3 run in those final three minutes, making their first two three-pointers of the game in the process, but South Korea still took a comfortable, 51-27 lead into the second half.

It was much the same story in the third quarter, as South Korea went on a 14-5 run thanks to Lee Hyun-jung's three and Byeon Jun-hyeong's three-point play after a layup.

After a Jordan timeout, Lee Hyun-jung dialed in from long distance on back-to-back possessions for a 71-37 lead at 5:41 mark.

After a quick layup, Lee drained a deep three from Stephen Curry range to push his team's lead to 84-44 at 1:52. The former Davidson forward scored 19 points in the third quarter.

South Korea emptied its bench in the final frame and topped the century mark in points for the second straight game.

South Korea outrebounded Jordan 44-29 and had a 14-7 edge in offensive boards.