▲ Professional basketball Seoul SK players rejoice following victory ⓒ Korea Basketball Federation
Seoul SK, first in the regular professional basketball league, defeated Goyang Orion’s challenge and advanced to the championship game.
SK defeated Orion 86-81 in the away game of the 2021-2022 KGC Ginseng Corporation Jeong Kwan-jang professional basketball semifinal play-off (3 wins out of 5) held at Goyang Gymnasium on the 24th.
With this, SK won three consecutive wins and advanced to the championship game once more for the first time in four years since the 2017-2018 season. Also, we are looking forward to the first combined championship in the club’s history (regular league, championship match).
SK will face the winner of the Suwon KT-Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation, which are currently facing 1 win and 1 loss in another semi-final playoff, and the championship match of the 7 out 4 system starting on May 2.
SK, which was collapsing, was raised by Ahn Young-joon
After winning both the first and second rounds, SK confidently entered the game, but struggled with the desperation of Orion, who were eliminated if they lost that day. In particular, Jamil Werney, a foreign player who is the key to tactics, was blocked by Orion’s defense and finished the first quarter with a narrow lead 26-24.
But in the end, they allowed a comeback in the second quarter. Orion effectively blocked SK’s attack with an anomalous area defense and succeeded in a comeback with consecutive goals from Lee Dae-sung and Lee Jeong-hyeon, and then widened the gap by adding free throws from SK’s team fouls one by one.
Orion’s momentum was terrifying. As the third quarter started, Hobin Han and Kangsun Kim fired two 3-pointers in a row, leading to a big run away to 54-41. Up until this point, it seemed that Orion, who had the home crowd’s enthusiastic support on their backs, was victorious.
However, the strength of SK, who ranked first in the regular league, was different. The mood changed with Ahn Young-joon’s three-point shot and Werney’s goal from the bottom. In addition, following inducing Orion’s error with a strong press defense, he narrowed the gap with a fast attack, and finished the third quarter with a successful comeback 69-68.
In the last 4 quarters, both teams put their lives on the line and it was a suffocating battle. As SK ran away with Werney’s consecutive goalscoring goal and Ahn Young-jun’s free throw, Orion hit Lee Dae-seong’s three-point shot, but it failed.
In the end, with 19.7 seconds left before the match ended, Wanny put a dunk in Orion’s will to pursue and won the game.
Holloway’s ‘sudden sabotage’… Orion’s ‘successful defeat’
▲ Murphy Holloway of Orion, Goyang ⓒ Korea Basketball Federation
On this day, SK’s Wannai kept the bottom of the goal with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Ahn Young-joon scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers. In particular, Ahn Young-joon took the lead in the 3rd quarter, when SK succeeded in reversing, shooting three-pointers in a row.
Ahn Young-joon’s performance also shone on defense. When Orion’s ‘main gun’ Dae-seong Lee caught the ball, he also helped defender Choi Won-hyeok in cooperative defense.
Ahn Young-jun, who made his debut in the 2017-2018 season, lifted the championship trophy from the first year of his professional career and took the rookie of the year. And now, he is playing an active role full of maturity and leading SK’s first unified championship challenge as a lead role rather than a supporting role.
On the other hand, Orion fought well once morest SK, but in the fourth quarter, foreign player Murphy Holloway suddenly refused to play. Holloway embarrassed Orion’s coach Eul-Jun Kang and his teammates by stating that it was difficult without any obvious injuries.
In the end, the team’s mood subsided greatly, and Orion scored 31 points, the most among both teams, Lee Dae-sung, and rookie Lee Jung-hyeon also struggled with 13 points.
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