Seoul SK, one of the favorites to win the 2023-2024 season of professional basketball, opened with a three-game winning streak after defeating upstart Goyang Sono.
SK defeated Sono 90-79 in an away game of the 2023-2024 regular season at the Goyang Sono Arena in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday.
SK, which has reached the championship finals for the past two consecutive seasons, winning the 2021-2022 season and finishing as runner-up in the 2022-2023 season, is considered a “Yanggang” this season along with “super team” Busan KCC, and has won its opening three games in a row after Anyang Jeonggwanjang and Suwon KT.
Sono, which started anew after Sono International acquired Day One, which entered the professional basketball league last season but was suspended for non-payment of wages, fell to its second straight opening loss on the 22nd against Wonju DB.
The influence of Jamil Warney, who averaged 36 points and 12 rebounds in the opening two games, continued on this day as SK dominated the first quarter, 23-15. Warney had 11 points and five rebounds in the first quarter alone.
After missing all nine of their first-quarter three-point attempts, Sono turned the tide in the second quarter when their best shooter, Jeon Sung-hyun, started to hit his shots.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Jeon gave SONO a 24-23 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter, and the game became a back-and-forth affair. At the end of the first quarter, SK held a narrow 43-40 lead.
After being down 40-48 at the start of the third quarter, SONO took a 52-51 lead with just over four minutes to go, thanks to the outside shooting of Lee Sung-wook and Jeon Sung-hyun, but SK regained the lead at 61-57 thanks to Warney’s eight straight points at the end of the quarter.
After a seesaw game ensued, the game tipped in SK’s favor after Sono’s Choi Sung-wook, who had been marking Warney exclusively, received a five-foul ejection with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter.
After regaining the lead at 71-70 on a fastbreak finish by Oh Jae-hyun with 5:13 left, SK answered with a floater by Warney and a three-pointer by Heo Il-young to make it 86-77 with 1:49 left and a three-pointer by Oh Jae-hyun with 1:14 left to seal the win.
Warney was again the star of the show with 30 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, followed by Heo Il-young with 17 points, Kim Sun-hyung with 12 points and eight assists and Oh Jae-hyun with 11 points.
For Sono, main man Jeon Sung-hyun scored 27 points, including six 3-pointers, while Lee Jung-hyun added 15 points and eight assists and Jarrod Jones chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds. 슬롯