Asian Games 2014 Basketball Championship: South Korea vs. Iran Score and Recap

South Korea edged Iran in Friday's men's basketball final to claim their 77th gold medal of the 2014 Asian Games, enduring an onslaught of pressure from the tournament favourites to emerge as 79-77 victors.

The hosts rode a wave of Iranian pressure en route to victory, losing the two middle quarters in what looked to be a fixture that would inevitably turn in Iran's favour. Pitch Invasion confirmed the result:

Despite coming into the game as underdogs, South Korea took little time to let Iran know they had every intention of overcoming the odds and adding to their gold-medal tally.

Yoo Jae-hak's side did what they couldn't against Japan in the semi-finals, claiming a 25-16 lead after the first quarter.

Having been exposed by Kazakhstan earlier in the week, Iran are not a side without vulnerabilities, conceding 20-plus points in three of their four quarters last time out.

Kin Cheung/Associated Press

The tournament favourites did manage to launch the beginnings of a comeback in the second quarter and reeled the hosts' lead back to six points by half-time, the score poised at 42-36 in South Korea's favour.

Coach Yoo was well aware of the threat posed by the Iranians. In the wake of his side's semi-final win over Japan, he was quoted by Agence France-Presse, via Rappler, as saying, "I know the Iran team quite well, they play a European style, so I think the final will be a tough game for us."

That familiarity certainly looked to be helping the tactician take down the Iranian threat, but with such a talented roster of individual talents opposite, Memi Becirovic's line-up continued to battle away.

Kin Cheung/Associated Press

The margin between the two sides became finer as the fixture wore on, and it was in the third quarter that Iran launched their assault.

Turning the same scoreline from the first quarter in their favour, a 25-point haul in the third left Iran as 61-58 leaders heading into the final 12-minute period.

Basketball Buddha's Nick Bedard noted the Iranians' depth as a key factor to their challenge, with South Korea arguably more shallow in terms of their elite options:

In the end, what came to the fore was a matchup befitting of the final spotlight, as both sides battled at Incheon's Samsan World Gymnasium, the drama spilling out until the last few phases of the clash.

Iran captain Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, who missed portions of this competition with retirement potentially looming, was confirmed by Hoop Talk as the game's highest scorer:

However, their leader was unable to guide his side to their goal, and Iran settled for silver, building on the bronze awards of 2010 and 2006.

Back and forth the points went in the last quarter, the teams exchanging the lead as Iran sought to stand firm for the majority while South Korea chased.

But a final burst from the hosting nation was enough to secure the result, landing a late haul to win the fourth quarter 21-16 and secure top honours.