Suwon KT defeated Korea Gas Corporation with four double-digit scoring collaboration to fight back in the second round of PO
Apr 14, 2025
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Unlike regular-season games, players' concentration is naturally high in short-term games such as playoffs.
However, performance is not necessarily proportional. Perhaps a more important factor is mental armament. This was also the most important reason why Korea Gas Corporation beat KT 67-64 in the first round of the semifinal playoff, where Suwon KT and Daegu Korea Gas Corporation faced off on the 12th.
In the case of Korea Gas Corporation, Andrew Nicholson, the main scorer and one option, who ranked first overall in three-point shots this season, was unable to play in the game due to a back injury, and Ndoye, the second option, was also out for the season due to injury, urgently bringing in a substitute foreign player, Manco Matiang, two days before the first game. It is natural that KT's victory was expected as only one foreign player, who could not work together for about a day, had to play. However, in this situation, KT had nothing more to say because it allowed Matiang 14 points and 21 rebounds, and even though he was the No. 1 regular league team rebounding team, he lost the rebound fight.
This is why both KT coach Song Young-jin and Korea Gas Corporation coach Kang Hyuk made the same diagnosis ahead of the second game at Suwon KT Arena on the 14th. However, coach Kang said, `Of course, KT players will have different mindsets. With desperation at the level of the first game, he should play one more step and show his concentration in defense. "Because there is a limit to offense," while coach Song said "There were defensive problems in the first game, but we have to solve them with offense anyway. Both foreign players Hammonds and Morgan are confident," he said, expressing conflicting determination to solve the attack.
Unlike the first game, KT played well from the first half.
In the first quarter, he was dragged 0-6 by allowing Matiang to score four consecutive points, but KT succeeded in turning the tables 15-14 with Ha Yoon-ki's consecutive under-the-scenes shots, which received Huh Hoon's exquisite pass, and Moon Sung-gon and Park Joon-young's consecutive three-pointers, following Moon Jung-hyun's attack in the paint zone. In the second quarter, Heo Hoon, who was scoreless in the first quarter, led the attack. After starting with Moon Jung-hyun's three-point shot, Heo Hoon's "One Man Show" continued with 10 points, including two consecutive three-pointers and middle shots, and widened the score to 36-29. On top of that, KT was able to lead the first half by 44-34, 10 points, as Morgan added four points while Ha Yoon-ki, Moon Jung-hyun, and Matiang were absent. Korea Gas Corporation said that Udong-hyun, Jung Sung-woo, Kim Jun-il and Matiang collaborated on the three-point game, but other players rarely helped the attack except for Matiang's 15 points and Kim Jun-il's 9 points. With nine seconds left before the end of the second quarter, the main guard Kim Nak-hyun suffered a left knee injury and stepped back to the bench.
However, in the third quarter after the start of the second half, Korea Gas Corporation gained strength. Korea Gas Corporation, which began to thoroughly prevent Heo Hoon, the starting point of the attack, chased 48-49 by making three consecutive points and another three-point succession after Vellangel, who was tied to scoreless in the first half, opened the scoring with a fastball. Then, Shin Seung-min's fastball and Matian's post-up score following Matian's shot block broke out, making it 55-54 with about a minute left before the end of the third quarter. Here, with one bonus free throw following Morgan's quarter-ending tap shot, KT turned the score back 58-57, but the thin ice continued until the end.
KT's Hammonds, who were tied to Kagulangan, Moon Jung-hyun and Matiang, and Korea Gas Corporation's Belangel, Jung Sung-woo and Shin Seung-min responded with three points each, tied 71-71 with about two minutes left before the end of the game, making it difficult to know the direction of the game. Here, Kagulangan scored four points like a thunderbolt, drawing back-to-back fastball layups by himself and Huh Hoon with two steals, which eventually became the winning point. KT won the game 75-71, making the entire series one win and one loss, heading to Daegu, the home of Korea Gas Corporation.
Four players, Heo Hoon (18 points), Ha Yoon-ki (14 points), Morgan (13 points), and Moon Jung-hyun (12 points), scored double-digit points, leading the victory.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
