Seoul - AFP
South Korea hit two three-pointers in the waning seconds of the Asian Championship bronze medal game Sunday to overcome a 13-point deficit and defeat the Philippines 70-68. Three missed free throws by the Philippines in the last 40 seconds ensured South Korea advance to next year's 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament as Asia's third best team. Sunday night's final between hosts China and Jordan will decide the region's only automatic berth to London, while the runner-up will join South Korea in the pre-Games tournament. Reserve guard Cho Sung-Min led South Korea with 20 points, including a three-pointer with just over a minute left that brought the Koreans to within one point at 64-65. Moon Tae-Jong then overcame a horrid shooting night with another triple with 47 seconds left to give South Korea their first lead of the match, setting up the Philippines' debacle at the free-throw line. "I was getting nervous because I was missing so much, I like to shoot the three, but not as much as I've been shooting here," an elated Moon said. "We knew we were in the game because we were playing some tough defence and we were missing a lot of easy shots." Moon finished with eight points on the night, making only three of his 12 shots, including one-for-seven from behind the arch. The Philippines were led by Marcus Douthit, the leading scorer and rebounder in Wuhan with 27 points and 22 rebounds.