Iran is FIBA Asia 2013 Champion; beats Philippines, 85-71

Manila, Philippines- Iran won against Philippines, 85-71 in the FIBA Asia 2013 Championship Finals held at Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, August 11, 2013. Iran and Smart Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines) are the top contenders of Asia in FIBA World Cup 2014 in Spain.
Iran is FIBA Asia 2013 Champion; defeats Philippines
Photo courtesy of Rappler.com and InterAKTV.ph

Smart Gilas bows to Iran and finished tournament with silver medal. Meanwhile, So. Korea won bronze.

Read: FIBA Asia 2013 Semi-Finals: Philippines wins against Korea, 86-79

It can be noticed that Iran made good use of their height advantage over Gilas players. They've been pounding the ball inside in the third and fourth quarters to widen lead. Gilas was unable to find range and intimidated by Iran's tough defense.

"We were overmatched from the start," Gilas coach Chot Reyes admitted after the game.

Gilas played well even without the naturalized player, Marcus Douthit  who was injured on yesterday's match against Korea.

Haddadi of Iran, the top-scorer with 29 points and 16 rebounds was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of FIBA Asia 2013.

Haddadi was benched before the last 2 minutes of fourth quarter after he collects his 4th foul.

Philippines’ lightning quick guard Jayson Castro also earned his spot as the competition’s best point guard, entered mythical five together with South Korea’s marksman Kim Mingoo, Iranian forward Oshin Sahakian and Chinese-Taipei’s small forward Lin Chih-Chieh.

Gilas tried to escape on the first half of round struggle against Iran. It trailed by 1-point as second quarter ended, 34-35. Larry Fonacier did a perfect last seconds execution, 3 points bomb at the end of quarter.

Ranidel de Ocampo also buries triple on the second quarter cutting Iran lead, 26-32. Gilas leads when Jimmy Alapag released his powerful 3-point shot, 20-19.

The Finals game was interrupted due to timer (shot clock) and scorecard malfunction. Iran leads the second quarter vs Gilas, 26-20, with 6: 31 minutes left.

Finals game at the Mall of Asia Arena was filled with a crowd attendance of 19,987, a record-breaking in a single game of the 2013 Asian Championship. President Aquino and VP Binay are also present to support Gilas Pilipinas.

The Finals of FIBA Asia 2013 created buzz on Twitter Philippines with #PUSO, #SmartFibaAsia, #Haddadi, LA Tenorio and Marc Pingris topped trending list.

Philippines vs. Iran Finals Scores:

First Quarter: 17-15; Second Quarter: 34-35 ; Third Quarter: 62-53 ; Fourth Quarter: 71-85





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