KOR – KCC let Elephants off the hook; Sonic Boom prevail

SEOUL (KBL) - Sonic Boom KT and Incheon ET Land Elephants scored contrasting wins to open their playoff runs in the KBL semi-finals.

Sonic Boom, who posted a record 41 wins while clinching the regular season title, didn’t break much of a sweat in beating Dongbu Promy 73-68 on Monday.

It was a different matter on Tuesday for Incheon Elephants - who finished second to Sonic Boom KT in the regular season - as they needed a fourth quarter rally and two overtimes to beat KCC Egis 94-91.

KCC Egis and Dongbu had swept Samsung Thunders and LG Sakers (3-0) respectively in the quarter-finals. Sonic Boom and Incheon Elephants, by virtue of being the top two teams in the standings got a bye and were seeded directly into the semi-finals.

Elephants’ rally

KCC Egis were up 62-52 at the end of the third quarter - after leading 22-17 to end the opening period and 42-33 at halftime – and seemed on course to post an upset win.

But a 23-13 fourth quarter run by the Elephants meant the score was tied at 75 at the end of the regulation and the deadlock continued even after five minutes of overtime. A second extra session was needed with the game tied at 85.

The Elephants led by one and had the ball with 35 seconds left in the second overtime.

Chung Byung-Kook was fouled while hitting a two-point shot for a 94-91 advantage, but he missed the free-throw to convert the three-point play.

KCC needed a three to send the game into triple overtime.

Chon Tae-Poong drove and dished to a wide-open Eric Dawson who missed a long bomb.

KCC got the rebound and had a second great look, but the attempt hit the side of the backboard and the final buzzer went signaling Elephants’ victory.

Jarod Stevenson had a game-high 27 points in the winning cause and fellow American Herbert Hill added 24 to go with a dozen rebounds.

Veteran center Seo Jang-hoon (pictured) chipped in with 18 points. He scored his 1,000th playoff point in the second quarter.

Giant center Ha Seung-jin and Eric Dawson had 17 points each for KCC, the latter also accounting for 14 rebounds.

Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday.

Sonic Boom have it easy

Sonic Boom took to the court after a two-week lay-off thanks to the bye.

But the Busan-based side, playing their best season ever, showed no signs of any rustiness and took charge of the game right away.

Charles Rhodes led the way with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Cho Sung-Min added 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Song Young-jin contributed a dozen points.

Park Ji-Hyon was the high man for Dongbu with 14 points, as many of their mainstays failed to fire.

Victor Thomas caught the eye in a moment of brilliance when he came off the bench and went on a one-man 9-0 run in the third quarter, but that proved a flash in the pan.

Dongbu’s all-star center Rod Benson was held to just eight points and veteran Kim Joo-Sung had a mere 10 points.

Game 2 is on Wednesday.

FIBA Asia