South Korea to face Iran in basketball final

INCHEON, Oct 1 (AFP): The South Korea men's team thrilled a large home crowd with an improved second-half defensive display Wednesday to reach the Asian Games basketball final by beating Japan 71-63.

But there was nearly a huge upset in the other semi-final when unbeaten favourites Iran were almost humbled by unfancied Kazakhstan, but edged home 80-78.

Japan led most of the first half against the Koreans with Naoto Tsuji rattling home three of his game-high five three-pointers as he dished out an early shooting lesson at the Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon.

"We knew they liked those mid-range jump shots and we tried to take those away, but the other guys got loose for a lot of threes," Korea's "T.J." Moon Tae-Jong told.

"It was a little frustrating in the first half. We knew they were good shooters but we didn't expect them to make that many threes in the beginning."