China and South Korea won in Thursday's semi-finals matches to set up the seventh championship meeting in the men's basketball competition of the Asian Games.

Guard Wang Shipeng saved China with a game-winning three-pointer 13.6 seconds to go in a 68-65 victory over Asian champions Iran.

In an earlier game, South Korea held back a strong surge-up in the last minute to beat Japan 55-51.

This was the first final meeting since South Korea ousted China 102-100 in overtime at the 2002 Busan Asiad, and the seventh time in the nine versions of the tournament since 1978 in Bangkok, Thailand.

China won four times in the previous six meetings and were seeking for the seventh gold medal in the Asiad men's basketball history.

China defeated South Korea 76-66 in the preliminary round to be the only unbeaten team in the competition.

Former NBA forward Wang Zhizhi had eight of his 15 points in the last quarter to help China turn a 59-52 deficit to a 65-63 lead with 1:09 minutes left.

Wang Shipeng, who made a beat-the-buzzer winner in China's 78-77 win over Slovenia at the World Championships in 2006, buried a pair of three-pointers, including the go-ahead one, for the victory.

Wang Shipeng had 20 points.

Japan's guard Ai Mitani closed it on 53-51 by a three-pointer after trailing by 10 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

But they failed to make another step up when the Koreans made it a four-point game with 10 seconds left.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2010)