Nagoya: The men's basketball team will start its Asian Games tournament in Japan on Thursday, marking the first official action for South Korea at the continental competition as the team pursues its first gold in 12 years. According to Yonhap News Agency, coached by Nikolajs Mazurs, South Korea will compete against Saudi Arabia in its first Group A game of the men's basketball tournament at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya. The matchup is set to occur nine days before the Asian Games' opening ceremony. Preliminary games for team sports such as basketball, football, and volleyball are customarily organized in the days leading up to the opening ceremony. South Korea is set to face Indonesia next at 4 p.m. on Friday, followed by a game against host country Japan at 7 p.m. on Sunday, all taking place at the same Nagoya venue. A total of twelve nations have been divided into three groups of four, with the top two teams from each g roup, along with the two best third-place teams, advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals are scheduled for next Wednesday, with the semifinals on Sept. 18. Both the bronze medal and the gold medal games will be held on Sept. 20, the day after the opening ceremony. South Korea last clinched the Asian Games gold in men's basketball in 2014 as the host nation, securing a dramatic victory over Iran 79-77 after trailing by five points with two minutes remaining. The team settled for bronze four years later in Jakarta and was then defeated by China in the quarterfinals of the 2023 competition in Hangzhou. The Philippines claimed the gold medal then, marking the first time since 1974 that a country other than South Korea or China won the men's basketball gold at an Asian Games. South Korea recently defeated the Philippines in two exhibition games at home over the weekend, winning 81-55 and 69-42, although the Philippines did not field their top players. Prior to those two victories, South Korea overcam e Saudi Arabia 85-72 in the Asian qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup. These consecutive wins signify the first winning streak for Mazurs, who took charge in December 2025 as the first foreign national to lead the South Korean men's national basketball team. These victories, however, were preceded by consecutive losses to Japan in exhibition matches in Tokyo in August. To triumph over Japan this time, South Korea will rely on U.S. college products, forwards Lee Hyun-jung and Yeo Jun-seok, to steer their performance. Lee, 25, after playing at Davidson, has pursued his professional career in Australia and Japan. He recently played for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Summer League and secured an invite to the Portland Trail Blazers' training camp by signing an Exhibit 10 contract this week. Yeo, 24, is currently playing with Seattle University, having transferred from Gonzaga after two seasons. These two players combined for 43 points in the previous win over Saudi Arabia and will need to con tinue their strong offensive play for a team that has recently faced challenges with their shooting.