Busan KCC suffered its second straight loss in the FIBA Champions League Asia Group stage.
KCC fell 77-107 to Japan’s Hiroshima Dragoonflies in the second game of FIBA Champions League Asia Group B on Tuesday at Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The tournament brings together the league champions from across Asia to determine the best of the best, with the winners sharing a spot in FIBA’s intercontinental competition. In East Asia, KCC is joined by the league champions from China’s Liaoning Flying Leopards and Japan’s Hiroshima Dragoonflies, with Felita Jaya (Indonesia) and NS Matrix (Malaysia) also qualifying. In West Asia, Aliyadi (Lebanon), 토토사이트 추천 Shabab Al Ahli (UAE), and Shardari Gorgan (Iran) punched their tickets.
The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four teams, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals. KCC’s participation in the tournament comes five years after the 2019 Ulsan Hyundai Mobis.
After suffering a 23-point loss to Iran’s Shardari Gorgan the day before, KCC was knocked out by Hiroshima by 30 points on the same day, making it impossible to qualify for the semifinals on their own. KCC now has two losses without a win.
If Chardari Gorgan defeats Felita Jaya in their next match, KCC’s chances of finishing second in Group B will disappear and they will be eliminated from the group stage. KCC will face Felita Jaya in their third Group B match on Wednesday.
Without Lagana and Alize DeShawn Johnson, KCC rushed to recruit Dion Thompson and Alfonso McKinney for the tournament, but McKinney was ruled out of the match with water in his knee, which he suffered during the previous day’s match against Chardari Gorgan.
After playing a seesaw game with Hiroshima in the early stages of the game, KCC quickly fell apart, surrendering 18 points to their opponent in the last minute of the first quarter. In the process, both Heo Woong’s and Choi Jun-yong’s shots missed the rim, and Song Kyo-chang and Choi Jun-yong committed back-to-back errors to completely lose the lead, ending the first quarter with a 17-33 score. KCC’s offense continued to struggle in the second quarter, committing four turnovers and allowing their opponent to make three three-pointers to end the half with a 32-54 lead.
In the third quarter, Lee Geun-hwi came alive with a lone three-pointer, but the gap with Hiroshima grew to 26 points, and the team remained lethargic in the fourth quarter, unable to turn the game around.
KCC’s Thompson finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Lee added 14 points, including four three-pointers. Heo Woong and Choi Jun-yong scored just six points each.