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The leading Wonju DB showed off its strong depth and began the countdown to the 2023-2024 professional basketball championship in the regular league.

DB beat Seoul SK 82-68 at a home game in the fifth round of the regular season league held at Wonju Gymnasium on Tuesday, amid evenly played by several players including Jeff Widy (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Lee Sun-Albano (12 points, 5 assists). DB (33 wins and 10 losses), which won two consecutive games, reduced its magic number of regular season championships from 10 to 9. SK (25 wins and 16 losses), which ended its two-game winning streak, remained in the third place.

The four previous showdowns were tight with two wins and two losses. "When we won two games, we controlled the opponent team's offense well," SK coach Jeon Hee-chul said, recalling the showdown through the fourth round ahead of the game. "We need to find answers in defense. We asked players to tie the score below 75. It may not be easy, but it was a message that defense is that important."

In response, DB manager Kim Joo-sung focused on offense. Prior to the game, DB ranked first in average score with 90.1 points. "We need to play basketball, scoring more than 85 points. We will use Widdie as the starting pitcher to save physical strength of Didric Lawson. We will make sure that Lawson can focus more on offense in the second half," Kim said.

DB came out as a different member than Jeon's expectation, but the team's offense went well in the early days. Park In-woong (13-point, three-point shooting), a second-year pro shooter, led the team's offense by scoring three points from the first quarter. Withi, who is 210 centimeters tall, blocked Jamil Warney (10 points, six rebounds, six assists), a flagship player of SK. Withi contributed to DB's 30-22 lead by scoring eight points, two rebounds, and one block shot in the first quarter alone. With Park In-woong and Withi's surprising performances, SK's strategy was somewhat weak.

However, the situation in the second quarter was reversed. As DB launched its main lineup of Lawson (18 points, five rebounds), Kang Sang-jae (12 points, nine rebounds, six assists), and Kim Jong-kyu (2 points, four rebounds), SK's defense prepared was effective. SK narrowed the gap to 32-34 and two points in the middle of the second quarter. However, DB returned after the operation time and had a half-time lead with a gap of 45-39 and six points thanks to Kang Sang-jae, Lawson, and Albano's recovery from offense.

With the start of the third quarter, the DB bench put Park In-woong and Widdie back in. The attempt to revive the good atmosphere of the first quarter hit the mark again. Widdie did not allow Warnie an easy field goal. Park In-woong was quiet in the attack, but Albano, who was tied to four points until the second quarter, broke out. Albano, who has excellent one-on-one skills, accumulated scores through various methods, including individual breakthrough, mid-range attack, and plotter. DB ran 61-47 with 2:57 left at the end of the third quarter.

DB, which finished the third quarter 67-53, booked the victory by widening the gap at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and finished the game by using enough Sixmen.