Philippines crushes Iran en route to FIBA Asia U16 Championship semis

The Philippine squad got a measure of revenge on behalf of their Gilas Pilipinas "kuyas," dispatching Iran with ease, 79-52, in the 2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championship, Wednesday on their foes' homecourt, the Azadi Sport Complex in Tehran, Iran.

With the win, the Philippines will get a chance to enter the Finals at the expense of Chinese Taipei, the only team to have beaten them so far, back in the group stage, 95-90.

The two sides exchanged the lead back-and-forth early in the first, but Iran got stuck at 12 points, conceding an 11-2 run that saw the Philippines go up by eight, 22-14, at the end of the initial 10 minutes.

The Philippines got their advantage to as high as 20 points in the second canto, 38-18, on a split by UP Fighting Maroon Paul Desiderio, but Iran fought on, getting to within single digits late in the third, 55-46. Jose Go IV however canned a two-pointer with 30 seconds left to keep the Philippine edge in double-figures heading into the final canto, 57-46.

As it turned out, the Philippines saved their best for last, holding Iran to no field goals until the 1:14 mark of the fourth quarter. By then, the Philippines was up 77-50, and by the time the final buzzer sounded, it was a 22-6 period for the visiting side.

Five Filipinos scored in double-figures, led by Jolo Mendoza's 16 markers, which came on a 7-of-13 shooting clip, along with four rebounds. Mike Nieto added 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Jose Go IV had 12 off the bench. Paul Desiderio chimed in with 11, and Carlo Abadeza notched 10.

Soheil Farhadichalabeh was a one-man team for Iran, posting 26 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Their next highest-scorer was Mobin Sheikhi with eight, but no other player had more than four.

The Philippines turned 16 Iran turnovers into 19 turnover points. They also out-assisted their foes 15-9.

Earlier in the day, Chinese Taipei dispatched Bahrain 70-67, to set up their semifinals match against the Philippines. On the other side of the bracket, Japan bested Korea, 75-71, to play the winner of China versus Kazakhstan. - AMD, GMA News