Seoul SK snapped a three-game losing streak by sending Anyang Jungkwanjang to its fifth straight loss.
SK defeated Jungkwanjang 85-71 on Wednesday in a home game of the 2023-2024 Korean Basketball League regular season at 텍사스홀덤 Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul. With the win, SK snapped a three-game losing streak and remained in fourth place with a 9-7 record on the season. They are two games behind second-place Suwon KT and Changwon LG (11-5). Meanwhile, defending champion Jeong Kwan-jang has lost five straight games and is in fifth place with nine points.
The first quarter belonged to SK. They hit five three-pointers, including two from Ahn Young-jun, to jump out to a 27-14 lead.
After shooting just 28% from the field in the first quarter, Jung Kwan-jang fought back in the second quarter as shots started to fall, mainly through Park Ji-hoon and Omari Spellman.
Later in the second quarter, Kim Kyung-won, who had been a defensive presence with steals and blocked shots, scored a dunk to cut the deficit to 35-36, followed by a dunk to make it 37-36, and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Lens Abando to end the half with a 40-36 lead.
The game remained close in the second half, but SK regained the lead with 1:58 left in the third quarter when Ahn Young-joon hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 54-54, followed by two points from Heo Il-young.
After Ahn Young-joon’s three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter, which opened at 58-54, SK regained a double-digit lead at 73-63 on two free throws by Oh Se-geun with 5:01 left in regulation. Then, with 2:22 left, Oh made a three-pointer to make it 80-69 in favor of SK.
Jamil Warney led the way with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Ahn Young-joon recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, including six three-pointers, to seal the win for SK. Kim Sun-hyung added 10 points and 10 assists, while Oh Se-geun had seven points and four rebounds for the hosts.
Spellman and Park Ji-hoon scored 13 points apiece for Jeonggwanjang, while Kim Kyung-won chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
At Dongcheon Gymnasium in Ulsan, Goyang Sono extended their winning streak to four games with a 71-66 victory over Ulsan Hyundai Mobis. With the win, Sono moved into a tie for fifth place with Chung Kwan-jang at 8-8, while Hyundai Mobis slipped to seventh place (8-9).
Chinanu Onuaku recorded his second straight double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Lee Jung-hyun added 16 points and six rebounds for SONO.
For Hyundai Mobis, Kim Kook-chan had 17 points, Ham Ji-hoon had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Gage Prim had 13 points and five rebounds.
Busan KCC defeated Seoul Samseong 77-74 at home to pick up its first back-to-back wins of the season, following a two-point win (74-72) against SK the night before. KCC improved to 6-8 on the season and moved into eighth place.
Choi Jun-yong had 18 points and five rebounds, Alize DeShawn Johnson had 15 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Song Kyo-chang was evenly matched with 13 points and five rebounds.
With their fourth straight loss, Samsung extended their longest road losing streak in professional basketball history to 21 games and remained in ninth place (3-14). Kofi Coburn added a team-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, but he was not smiling.