Deadly shooter Bang Sung Yoon made South Korea a totally different team in the most exciting basketball match so far at the Doha Asian Games in Doha on Saturday.
Burying a total of 12 three-pointer, the 24-year-old Bang finished with 42 points to lead the defending Asian Games champion to nip Qatar 87-81 in an over-time thriller and snap a four-game winning streak of the host.
Bang, who missed most of the first four group games due to an ankle injury, had some pain killers before taking to the court to shoot 12-for-19 from three-pointer range for South Korea.
"I had a headache during the match because of the pain killers, " said Bang. "But I was just trying my best to help my team."
It was the second best scoring performance at international competitions of Bang, who had to put ice bags on his left wrist and ankle and sat on the ground of the mixed zone while talking to the media after the game.
Bang was the hero of South Korea, who improved to a 3-2 record to finish fourth in Group A and advanced to the quarter-finals where it will face Asian champion China on Tuesday.
It was Bang that made a three-pointer 43.8 seconds from the end of the fourth quarter to tie it at 71-all and set up the extra time duel. It was him that nailed his 12th and final three-pointer to push South Korea up to 83-79 with just over one minute left in the over-time and it was still him that added two from the line coolly 40 seconds later to seal the desperately needed victory for South Korea.
"He is a real shooter, a real one," said South Korea head coach Choi Bu Yung. "I am so proud of him."
"He played a great game today. Not just good, great!" said coach Jonas Kazlauskas, who led his Chinese side to watch the game from the stand from the beginning till the end. "We have to prepare for him."
Bang and his teammates' performance was a great morale boost for South Korea, who will play China again four years after upsetting the Asian basketball giant 102-100 in a similar over- time thriller at the final of the Busan Asian Games.
"We still need to improve our defense," said Choi. "I am very confident that we can play even better against China."
However, the South Koreans may play without their hero.
"I am not sure whether I can play against China," Bang said.
Former NBA center Ha Seung Jin, who scored four points including a slam dunk in the over-time, contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds and three assists for South Korea, who entered the tournament as a title contender but struggled in the group competitions.
Qatar, Jordan, both on a 4-1 record, and Iran (3-2) also advanced to the quarter-finals as top three finishers from the group.