17th Asian Games INCHEON 2014

South Korea’s men’s basketball team overcame a five-point deficit in the final two minutes and beat Iran 79-77 Friday to win a gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games.

The win is the country’s first Asiad gold in men’s basketball since South Korea beat China 102-100 to win the Busan Asian Games in 2002.

Moon Tae-jong led the Korean offense and scored 19 points, while Kim Jong-kyu added 17 points and Cho Sung-min had 16 points. Kim, a two-point-07-meter center, also grabbed five rebounds.

Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami, a one-point-nine-meter forward for Iran, exploded with 30 points, but was unable to pull off a win for his team. Hamed Ehadadi, a two-point-18-meter center, added the second most points for Iran with 14. 

At the final held at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea led Iran until the second quarter with 42-36, but Iran rallied in the third to finish the quarter with a 61-58 lead.

South Korea trailed Iran 75-70 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but closed the gap by two points with a three-pointer by Yang Dong-geun with one minute and nine seconds to go. Kim added two more points to tie the game with 36 seconds to go. Following a foul, he added another point from the free throw line to pull off a 76-75 lead.

Moon extended the lead to 78-75 with two free throws with 16-point-nine seconds remaining on the clock before Iran came within a point of tying with a shot by Nik Khahbahrami with 14 seconds left in the game. Moon added another point, scoring one of his two free throws, while Iran missed two last shot attempts before the final whistle blew ending the game at 79-77.