Professional basketball Anyang KGC defeated Goyang Carrot to advance to the championship match for three consecutive seasons. The opponent to compete for the championship is Seoul SK.
KGC defeated Carrot 89-61 in the 2022-23 professional basketball quarterfinal playoffs (PO, 3 best-of-5 matches) held at the Goyang Indoor Gymnasium at 7 pm on the 19th.
With the victory on this day, KGC, who won the 3rd PO win (1 loss) in the semifinals, will step on the stage of the championship for three consecutive seasons following the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
The opponent that KGC will compete for the championship is Seoul SK, which has previously defeated Changwon LG with three consecutive victories and entered the championship game first.
KGC and SK, which also clashed in the championship match last season, met on a single bridge for the top spot in professional basketball for two consecutive seasons. Last season, SK reached the top with 4 wins and 1 loss over KGC.안전놀이터
The championship match between KGC and SK will be held on the 25th in a best-of-seven match.
On the other hand, despite unfavorable conditions such as overdue salaries for the players, Carrot’s journey to the semifinal PO after a close battle with Ulsan Hyundai Mobis from the sixth round PO to the fifth game came to an end at the quarterfinal PO.
Like coach Kim Sang-shik’s promise before the game, “I want to finish today,” KGC quickly seized the victory.
In the first quarter, when they were leading 13-8, the gap began to widen at once as Moon Seong-gon made two consecutive 3-pointers. Carrot also counterattacked with Kim Kang-sun’s outer gun, but KGC ran away again with Oh Se-geun and Spellman’s consecutive scores.
With 19 seconds left at the end of the first quarter, a technical foul came from Carrot’s bench. Park Ji-hoon made a successful free throw and shot under the goal. In the first quarter, KGC took a huge lead 28-11. Moon Seong-gon made a big success with 13 points, including all three 3-pointers.
With the start of the second quarter, Carrot tried to ignite the pursuit with Kang-sun Kim’s 3-point shot. However, KGC was not easily shaken. Taking advantage of opponent turnovers and failed attacks, Jeong Jun-won and Byun Jun-hyeong added consecutive scores to widen the gap to 37-19 with 5 minutes left.
KGC widened the gap further by adding Oh Se-geun’s two free throws and scoring under the goal. Carrot did not even follow the goal luck, such as Kim Kang-seon’s open 3-point shot, followed by Jo Jae-woo’s consecutive bottom-of-the-goal shots. In the end, KGC led 47-26 in the first half. Carrot’s field shooting success rate in the second quarter was 18%, especially his 2-point shot was successful with only one out of eight shots.
Driven into a corner, Carrot counterattacked with Didric Lawson’s 3-point shot in the third quarter. However, KGC responded with two consecutive 3-pointers from Spellman and Moon Seong-gon. Here, the outer cannons such as Byun Jun-hyung, Jung Jun-won, and Spellman exploded one after another. With about 4 minutes left at the end of the 3rd quarter, KGC widened the gap to 69-36, 33 points.
Carrot ignited the embers of the chase only at the end of the third quarter. Lawson raised the momentum with two free throws and a goal under the goal, and Lee Jung-hyun also made two successful free throws to help. KGC failed to add a goal for over two minutes. However, it was not enough to quickly close the gap that had already widened. Just before the end of the third quarter, even Byun Jun-hyeong’s buzzer beater went off. The third quarter ended with KGC leading 78-48, 30 points.
In the 4th quarter, the victory was already high. Like coach Kim Seung-gi’s promise before the game, “I will try to the end without giving up even for the sake of the fans,” Carrot tried to narrow the gap even a little. However, the field goal success rate, which had fallen throughout the game, hardly revived in the final 4th quarter.
KGC, who was on the verge of advancing to the championship, piled up points without overdoing it. While arranging the stamina of Byun Jun-hyung, Moon Seong-gon, and Spellman, the rest of the game was relaxed. In the end, the game ended with a complete victory of 89-61, KGC’s 28 points.
In KGC, Moon Sung-gon played an active role with 22 points and 7 rebounds, including 4 3-point shots, while Oh Se-geun also played an active role with 16 points and 6 rebounds, and Jeong Jun-won also played an active role with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Park Ji-hoon and Spellman also contributed 10 points, and Byun Jun-hyung also contributed 9 points.
On the other hand, Carrot swallowed regret as Lawson struggled with 20 points and 9 rebounds, but all the other players only scored in single digits. On this day, Carrot’s field goal success rate was 29%.