Korea beats Saudi Arabia to open men's basketball tournament

South Korea cruised to an 82-66 win over Saudi Arabia to open the men's basketball competition of the 20th Asian Games in Japan on Thursday. Former Davidson forward Lee Hyun-jung paced South Korea's offense with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting as South Korea never once trailed in its first Group A game at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, the main host city of the Asiad. This was the first official action for South Korea at this year's Asian Games, whose opening ceremony is Sept. 19. The men's basketball tournament began Thursday with four games on the slate. For South Korea, Lee Woo-suk chipped in 18 points off the bench, and starting center Lee Seoung-hyun netted 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Marzouq Al-Muwallad led Saudi Arabia with 18 points. The teams were tied at 17-17 before South Korea scored seven unanswered points to close out the opening quarter. South Korea pulled away in the second quarter, holding the opponent to just four points in the first 7 1/2 minutes, while scoring a dozen points themselves to open up a 36-21 lead. Saudi Arabia responded with a 7-2 run in the lat