It was Seoul SK who laughed in the ‘Oh Se-gun Derby’ in front of 4,210 fans. SK smiled as they won their opening game against emerging rivals Anyang Jeong Kwanjang. Jamil Warney, in particular, dominated the court with 46 points. Facing his hometown team, Oh Se-geun also had a solid performance.
SK, led by head coach Jeon Hee-chul, won 89-74 in the opening game of the 2023-24 Jeong Kwan-jang Professional Basketball League on Nov. 21 at Anyang Indoor Gymnasium.
The two teams have emerged as rivals, meeting in the championship game for the past two consecutive seasons, especially last season, when they went 3-3 in the regular season. However, it was Jungkwanjang who had the last laugh last season, winning the East Asian Super League (EASL) Championship.
This night was different. For SK, Warney shined brightest on the court with 46 points and 11 rebounds. He shot a whopping 65% from the field. Oh added eight points, five rebounds, and five assists.
With the win, SK extended its regular-season winning streak to 10 games, dating back to last season.
The hosts hung their heads in their home opener as Daryl Monroe had 21 points and six rebounds, Lens Abando added 12 points and Bae Byung-joon 11, but failed to control Warner.
Head coach Kim Sang-sik started with Park Ji-hoon, Choi Sung-won, Bae Byeong-joon, Daryl Monroe, and Kim Kyung-won. SK head coach Jeon Hee-cheol countered with Kim Sun-hyung, Oh Jae-hyun, Heo Il-young, Wonie, and Oh Se-geun.
By the middle of the first quarter, both teams were in good shape. With five minutes left in the first quarter, both teams had only two missed field goals, showing off their high offensive efficiency. Warney poured in 10 points for SK, while Bae Byeong-jun poured in seven for Jung Kwan-jang. The game continued to be a back-and-forth affair, with neither team taking a significant lead. At the end of the quarter, Monroe’s mid-range shot extended the lead to five points, but Gomez’s offensive rebound followed by Warney’s layup narrowed the gap again. The first quarter ended with a 22-19 lead for Anyang. Warney poured in 12 points for SK. Meanwhile, against Chinjung, Oh Se-geun and Choi Sung-won went scoreless in the first quarter.
Warney’s explosiveness continued in the second quarter. He made three of his four field goal attempts in the second quarter to lead the team’s comeback. The Maxwell-Jong-hyun twin tower kept him in check as much as possible, but Warney responded with a nice spin layup to draw applause from the fans. Coach Kim Sang-sik tried to stop the flow by calling timeout.
Soon after, Jung Kwan-jang closed the gap with baskets from Monroe and Abando, who took the court again. However, SK answered with a layup from Warney in the fast break. To make matters worse, Park missed both a mid-range shot and a floater, and Gomez responded with a three-pointer to widen the gap. Meanwhile, Warney exploded for 20 points, hitting 10 of 17 shots in about 15 minutes.
SK extended its lead to eight points with 3:49 left in the second quarter, thanks to a three-pointer by Oh Se-geun off a pass from Kim Sun-hyung and a mid-range jumper by Leon Williams. In response, Jung Kwan-jang drew up an end-one play for Monroe, which Osegun converted from the top of the key. Immediately afterward, in a fastbreak situation, Kim Sun-hyung-Osegun and Williams scored under the basket. After stopping the flow in regulation time, Jung Kwan-jang tried to catch up with Park Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-hyun, and Monroe, but they were unable to make a comeback. Rather, after a steal by Gomez just before the end of the second quarter, Williams drew a U-foul on Bae Byeong-jun. Williams made both free throws, and SK ended the second quarter with a 48-41 lead. Both teams played hot offensive basketball in the first half, shooting over 50 percent from the field.
It was Chung who opened the third quarter. Back-to-back layups from Abando and Maxwell both found the rim. It was Warney who answered back, hitting his first three shots of the third quarter with an aggressive drive to the basket.
After the half, it was showtime for Warney and Abando. First, Abando got a block with 3:57 left, followed by a layup. But Warney answered with another layup after a defensive stop. After Abando’s dunk after stoppage time, Warney responded with a nice fadeaway shot. However, at the end of the quarter, Jung Kwan-jang answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Choi Sung-won and Monroe. At the end of the third quarter, SK still held a 67-65 lead, but Kim Sun-hyung picked up his fourth personal foul at the end of the quarter. Meanwhile, Abando, the hero of the third quarter, scored eight points and Warney poured in 12 points.
The first two minutes of the fourth quarter saw a slow offensive flow with missed shots and fouls. Warney was different, though, as he hit a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer in front of Monroe, then followed it up with a steal and fastbreak layup for a solo seven-point run. It was Warney’s showtime in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.
After that, it was a repetitive scene of Chung’s metallurgical pursuit and SK’s escape. Especially when Monroe attacked, the twin towers of Monroe and Oh Se-geun pressured him with great defense. The highlight was SK’s offense with 4:11 left. Osegun assisted Heo Il-young on a two-pointer, and then took a pass from Kim Sun-hyung for his second three-pointer of the night. This was followed by a layup from Kim Sun-hyung to give SK their largest lead of the night, 11 points. 스포츠토토
Jung Kwan-jang tried to make a comeback, but once again, Warney stood in the way. With 1:17 left, Kim Sun-hyung’s kickout pass and Warney’s front-to-back three-pointer pushed the lead to 12 points. Kim celebrated the assist by raising his arms in the air after Warney’s shot.
Warney added a fastbreak layup with 32 seconds left to seal the victory and her 46th point of the night.