South Korea defeated Iran 79-77 to capture gold in men's basketball at the Asian Games on Friday.



South Korea erased a five-point deficit with two minutes to play to win its first gold in men's hoops since 2002.



Down 75-70 with two minutes to play, South Korea went ahead 76-75 with Yang Dong-geun's three-pointer and then a three-point play by Kim Jong-kyu, who converted his free throw after getting fouled on a lay-in with 36.3 secods to go.



South Korea got a steal on the next possession and Moon Tae-jong, who was fouled after an inbound, drained both of his free throws for a 78-75 lead with 16.9 seconds left.



Mohammad Samad Nikkhah Bahrami made a turn-around jumper to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 14 seconds remaining.



On the next possession, Moon was fouled again and made one of his two free throws.



With a chance to win at the buzzer, Bahrami launched a three-pointer that rolled out of the rim. Center Hamed Haddadi grabbed the offensive board, but his jumper was also off-target as the clock ticked down to the finish.



Moon, a naturalized South Korean who was born to an African-American father and a Korean mother, led South Korea with 19 points. Bahrami scored 21 of his 30 points in the first half for Iran. (Yonhap)