Chu Contributes to the Come-From-Behind Victory of KCC

KCC was behind Samsung by 1 point at 2.1 seconds before the end of the game.

Chu Seung-gyun of KCC, who had played with Lee Sang-min of Samsung for 10 years until last season, ran through the mark of Lee and shot at a 45 degree angle on the left. His success excited 5,600 home fans, claiming a dramatic come-from-behind victory.

KCC won 82-81 thanks to the final touch of Chu, who celebrated his lunar birthday (December 6, 1974) at the home game against Samsung in Jeonju on Sunday. KCC defeated Samsung, which was aiming at the 8th straight winning this season, and stepped up to the third with 20 wins and 13 defeats, a one match behind No.2 KT&G.

Chu, who had failed a middle shot at the end of a match against Orions on December 11 bringing his team down, seized the chance this time and became a hero.

Samsung, led by Terrence Leather (28 points), had to see Kang Hyeok (13points) leave after five fouls in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Dongbu enjoyed the fifth winning streak after defeating SK 71-69 and widened the gap to 4.5 games with KT&G, who lost to Samsung the day before.

Dongbu was standing firm in front of SK, which has recently enjoyed the second winning streak even though major players Bang Seong-yoon and Kim Tae-sul were missing due to injuries.

SK was trailing behind 11-22 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter Dongbu stopped short at gaining one point for five minutes and 47 seconds while SK scored 11 points. In the third quarter, Moon Gyeong-eun (13points) made a successful reverse with three-point shot at 4 minutes and 40 seconds, leading the team 36-35.

Kang Dae-hyeop (20 points) of Dongbu, however, made three successful three-point shots, widening the gap again. Even at the fourth quarter (56-53),

Kang rescued his team, gaining seven straight points.

With 7,967 basketball fans visiting the stadium, SK comforted with the fact that it gathered a record 100,000 audiences only in 18 matches. The previous record was 19 games of LG.

kjs0123@donga.com why@donga.com