‘Jung Hyo-geun explodes for 26 points’ KGC wins third straight Jones Cup with win over Qatar

KGC defeats Qatar with an evenly matched performance to extend its Jones Cup winning streak to three games.

KGC defeated Qatar 91-79 in Game 5 of the 42nd William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament at Heping Gymnasium in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday to record its third consecutive victory in the tournament.

Forward Jung Hyo-geun served as the team’s ace with 26 points on four three-pointers. Park Ji-hoon (14 points), Jung Jun-won (12 points), Ko Chan-hyuk (14 points), and Duvon Maxwell (14 points) also contributed with a well-coordinated team effort to break Qatar’s spirit. KGC remained in third place with a 5-1 record.

KGC opened the scoring with a field goal by Bae Byung-joon to start the game, and later took the lead with a paint-zone drive by Jung Jun-won and two three-pointers by Jung Hyo-geun. However, the team struggled against Qatar’s Harachichi Meho and Mohammed Nado in the paint with just over two minutes left in the quarter, and ended the first quarter trailing 25-26.

At the start of the second quarter, a three-pointer by Qatar’s Abdullah Moussa and a dunk by Meho seemed to widen the gap, but second-year guard Ko Chan-hyuk came to the rescue. He hit two accurate three-pointers and a fastbreak layup at the 6:53 mark to spark an eight-point run. Kim Chul-wook and Jung Hyo-geun followed with paint-zone two-pointers to make it 39-36 after five minutes. KGC ended the half with a 49-45 lead.

The favorable trend continued in the third quarter. Homegrown players such as Jeong Jun-won and Kim Kyung-won actively participated in rebounding and did not fall behind Qatar’s height. In particular, Jung Hyo-geun led the offense with 10 points. Jung Hyo-geun (2), Maxwell (2), and Kim Kyung-won (1) took advantage of Qatar’s tough defense and converted all five of their free throws to keep their opponents at bay. They were able to maintain their lead despite the tough offense. The lead grew to 70-61.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, KGC tried to solidify the victory with Park Ji-hoon and Jung Hyo-geun for three-point support. Qatar utilized the height of Mohammed Abasser and Meho to relentlessly dig into KGC’s paint. However, Maxwell, Jung Hyo-geun, and Jung Jun-won kept the deficit to a minimum with their unselfish defense. The lead remained between 7 and 10 points throughout the fourth quarter.

With 3:06 left, Park Ji-hoon’s layup following a solo breakaway made it 87-76 in favor of KGC. With the momentum in their favor, KGC sealed the deal with a three-pointer from Ko Chan-hyuk with 51 seconds left. 메이저놀이터