Defending champions China and South Korea will vie for the gold in Friday's Asian Games men's basketball final after beating their opponents respectively in two thrilling semis on Thursday.

Wang Shipeng hit a key 3-pointer in the dying seconds and finished 20 points to help China beat Iran 68-65.

It wasn't decided with who would be the winners when Mahdi Kamrani hit one of two free throws to tie the game 65-65 with over 13 seconds remaining when sharpshooter Wang Shipeng netted his fourth 3-pointer to seal the victory, gave China a sweet revenge for last year's defeat at the Asian Championships.

"We have been carried a lot since the 2009 Asian Championships, we didn't play well in Tianjin," said Wang Shipeng.

"We have been preparing for the game against Iran since the first play of the Asian Games and we put down all the burdens now," he added.

Wang Zhizhi was the only other Chinese to score double-digit with 15 points, including 2-for-2 3-pointer.

Iran had three players to finish double-figure. Mahdi Kamrani got 19, Hamed Afagh 14 and Oshin Sahakina 12.

China opened badly and made only 2 of 10 field goals to lag behind 12-8 in the first quarter befor they played a 21-16 second quarter to finish at a 29-28 halftime.

China led the third 48-47. But Iran opened the fourth with a 12- 4 run for 59-52 before being rallied back.

In the day's other semifinal, Kim Joo Sung scored 13 points and grabbed nine recounds to help South Korea beat Japan 55-51.

Forward Cho Sung Min had 12 points for South Korea, which started slowly and made only 3-for-13 in field goals, trailling 9-14 in the opening quarter.

It was 27-26 at halftime and South Korea expanded the lead to 46-38 at the end of the third quarter. Japan fought back in the fourth with a 9-1 run, trimming the gap to 51-53 with 10 seconds left. But Yang Donggeun hit a pair of free throws to clinch the victory.

Former NBA player Tabuse Yuta led Japan with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Yang Donggeun added 14 points.

In Thursday's 5th to 8th place competitions, the Philippines beat DPR Korea 96-69, runners-up Qatar nipped Jordan 58-52.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2010)