BEIJING (China) - Korea needed some help from Lady Luck to escape China, 80-76, in a pulsating FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers encounter between rivals at the Wukesong Arena, Friday night.
The crew appeared to be on the way to a blowout victory when it built a commanding 74-56 lead with 5:30 remaining in the game but the home team doubled down on defense to stage a furious comeback.
That wide of a cushion got deflated to just three, 79-76, with 21 seconds left behind the hot shooting of Zhang Zhenlin from deep, but Team Dragon lost steam afterward much to the relief of the visiting squad.
Zhang flunked from beyond the arc twice as he tried to tie the game up, and An Youngjun was there to collar his second miss with three-tenths of a second left as the door totally closed on the Chinese and their hopes.
An was actually fouled upon securing the board and he went on to split his shots from the foul line, not only to settle the final score but to make sure that they'd leave the city with the vengeful win in the bag.
It could be recalled that Team Korea lost to China in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Quarter-Finals by way of a 79-71 decision, one of the latter's crucial wins that eventually led to a silver-medal finish behind Australia.
Those lucky breaks in the endgame, furthermore, saved the efforts of Lee Hyunjung, who starred for his side with 33 points behind 9 triples, which is now the all-time single game record in the Asian Qualifiers.
*This article will be updated shortly.