900th Three-Pointer

Ryu Jae-hak, coach of Etland, took care of Moon Kyung-eun ahead of the game against Bucheon LG on November 23. The coach was worried that Moon Kyung-eun was injured because Moon had applied a bandage to his right knee during warm-up just before the game. Even though he felt a sharp pain with his fluid-filled knee, Moon Kyung-eun started as one of the “best five” and recorded his 900th three-point shooter for the first time of pro-basketball regular season to lead Etland to four consecutive victories. He played for a full 40 minutes and scored 27 points, the most out of the two teams, including seven three-pointers to lead Etland to an 88-81 victory.

Moon Kyung-eun, having been in the professional leagues since the 97-98 season, succeeded with a clean long-distance jump shot with 48 seconds left to finish the second quarter, securing his 900th three-pointer in only 278 games over the seven seasons. He scored four free throw points, only to remain one point away from reaching a total of 1000 free throw points this year.

Etland, experiencing both extremes with four consecutive losses followed by its five straight wins in the beginning of the season, continued its march of consecutive wins to keep its tied-fourth position with nine wins and five losses.

The “luck” of Etland, White led the offense and the defense and made 25 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists -- only to miss a triple-double by one rebound. Williams, Etland’s center, played cooperatively with White, taking over the tough assignments and guarding the post, finished with 23 points and five rebounds.

Etland increased its chance to win with nine continuous points, with two three-pointers by White, followed by a three-pointer by Moon Kyung-eun to increase its lead to 61-47. It was two minutes and 39 seconds into the third quarter, at which Etland already led 52-47. After the third quarter with 76-65, Etland neglected LG’s last pursuit thanks to active attacks by Cho Dong-hyun and Williams in the fourth quarter.

Samsung managed to beat SK 84-82 to evade its three consecutive losses in Jamsil. Samsung was behind 69-74 with just three minutes before the end of the game, and led 79-78 after a lay-up shot by Derek Johnson and Hannibal. Samsung was chased closely with 80-79 with 20 seconds left, but increased the lead to 83-79 by with a timely three-pointer by Choo Hee-jung. Samsung ended the intense game with a free throw by Kang Hyuk, three seconds before the game ended -- with Samsung ahead by 83-82 at the time. TG kept standing its leading position up (12 wins and 2 losses) by beating Mobis with 87-73 in Ulsan. The coach of KCC Shin Seon-woo made a record of most wins (205 wins) by winning against SK the previous day.

Won-Hong Lee Jong-Seok Kim bluesky@donga.com kjs0123@donga.com