image via interaksyon.com
The Philippine national men’s basketball team battled gallantly
before succumbing to basketball powerhouse Iran, 85-71, in the title
game of the FIBA Asia Championship.
Gilas Pilipinas had to settle for a silver medal, the country’s best
finish in the tournament since winning the Asian title in 1985.
With the Philippines’ top center Marcus Douthit out, 7-foot-2 Iran
behemoth Hamed Haddadi dominated the post with 29 points and 16
rebounds.
Despite missing top scorer and rebounder Marcus Douthit coming into
the match, the Philippines stayed within striking distance, falling
behind by just a single point, 34-33, at halftime.
Iran opened up a 10-point lead in the third quarter as the
Philippines got into early penalty, struggling in the paint with key big
man Marc Pingris visibly hobbling with a sprained ankle.
Timely hits from Jeff Chan and Jimmy Alapag made sure Gilas never got too far behind.
Mahdi Kamrani, however, nailed a three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer gave Iran a 62-53 advantage.
Iran then flexed its might, starting the final period on an 8-1 run to push its edge to 16 points.
Gilas cut the deficit to 11, but an unsportsmanlike foul called on
Gary David for bumping Samad Nikkhah Bahrami allowed Iran to score four
straight points for a 78-63 advantage with less than three minutes
remaining.
Ranidel De Ocampo responded with a four-point play over Haddadi come
within 11, 78-67. But Kamrani played the fireman role for Iran, nailing a
tough runner as Gilas couldn’t come any closer than 12 points the rest
of the way.
Tempers flared during the physical match, with Haddadi getting into a
verbal altercation with coach Chot Reyes in the second quarter and
several players involved in physical tussles.
Without the inside presence of Douthit, the Filipinos faltered from
the field against the bigger Persians, making just 32 percent of their
shots.
The Talk ‘N Text duo of Jayson Castro and Jimmy Alapag led the Philippines with 18 and 13 points apiece.
Bahrami and Kamrani added 19 and 15 each for Iran, which won its third Asian title in the last four stagings.
source: interaksyon.com/interaktv/gallant-gilas-pilipinas-falls-to-mighty-iran-settles-for-silver-medal-in-fiba-asia-championship
InterAKTV/Roy Afable
No comments:
Post a Comment