BNK Defeats Zaragoza, a Winning Candidate, Finishing Good in the Park Shinja Cup
Sep 04, 2025
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BNK Thumb caused an unusual event to catch the favorite, Spain's Zaragoza.
BNK defeated Zaragoza, who had already reached the semifinals by 69-58 in the group A qualifying match for the '2025 BNK Financial Park Shin-ja Cup' held at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan on the 4th. BNK, which failed to advance to the semifinals after losing consecutive games due to disappointing plays in the previous three qualifying games, kept its pride as a title sponsor and a home team in the final qualifying round. Of course, Zaragoza used bench members evenly and played somewhat loose, but BNK finished well ahead of the opening of the season by properly showing the power of its outer guns.
BNK did its best from the first quarter by operating its main players at full capacity because it was the last game of the competition. Lee So-hee scored eight consecutive points, including two three points, and Kim Sonia's three consecutive points were added, starting to lead 14-4. In the second quarter, Zaragoza continued to use regional defense, actively targeting the outskirts. As many as six three stores, including three by Kim Min-ah, two by Kim Jong-un, and one by Byun So-jeong, passed the rim, widening the gap to 39-20. Zaragoza players reacted somewhat nervously as the game hardly went well, and they also repeated turnovers. The driving force behind the first half with a 46-23, double score.
However, Zaragoza was also the runner-up in Spain's first division, and it was a strong team that reached the semifinals early on by catching all three previous games. He actively targeted BNK's low-height BNK under the basket and developed a scary chase. In the third quarter alone, he swept 25 points and trailed 48-59.
BNK did not allow the chase in the fourth quarter as Lee So-hee and Kim Sonia's three-pointers exploded following Kim Min-ah again. He overwhelmed Zaragoza with 14 three-point shots and only two outposts. Four players, including Kim Sonia (18 points), Lee So-hee (16 points), Byun So-jeong (13 points), and Kim Min-ah (12 points), scored even double-digit points.
BNK coach Park Jung-eun said, `The previous three games were generally sluggish, but the players performed well as promised today's game. Zaragoza was a team that didn't matter much about winning or losing, but the players' exciting play and finishing well will definitely have a good impact,' he said. `The offense will have ups and downs, but I'm satisfied with the high posture and concentration of the defense transition after the attack in today's game.'
Zaragoza coach Carlos Morales said, `I tried the local defense because it didn't mean much to win or lose, but the second half was more satisfactory than the first half. It was quite impressive to see BNK players boldly shoot three points from the outside without fear. In particular, Byun So-jeong's play was excellent. "A player I want to work with once," he said. "He reached the semifinals, but he has no specific goal of winning this tournament. It is a good experience to face the Korean and Japanese teams. The key is to get a good performance in the upcoming EuroLeague."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
