FIBA Asia Cup 2012: Smart Gilas Philippines Loss To Iran By 17 Points

Friday, September 21, 2012

FIBA Asia Cup 2012: Smart Gilas Philippines Loss To Iran By 17 Points

This time, there was no fourth quarter magic for the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team.

Iran caught fire in the second half to down the Philippines, 77-60, and book the first finals seat in the FIBA Asia Cup Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

SMART-Gilas was down by just three points, 50-47, when Iran unleashed a 12-0 run to bridge the third and fourth quarters to put the game away. The Philippines’ woes were compounded by foul trouble on its big men. Marcus Douthit, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Sonny Thoss all missed either part or all of the fourth quarter because of foul trouble.

Turnovers were once again a problem for the Philippine side, which committed 23 errors against Iran a day after committing 21 against Chinese Taipei.

Five players scored in double figures for Iran led by veteran guard Hamed Afagh with 14 points. Jared Dillinger and LA Tenorio paced SMART-Gilas with 13 points apiece, while Douthit added 11.

With Bahrami struggling on offense early, SMART-Gilas turned a five-point deficit in the opening minutes around with a 14-3 run, including seven straight points from Larry Fonacier, Tenorio and Dillinger that gave the Filipinos a 17-11 lead with 2:28 remaining in the opening period.

But Iran scored eight unanswered points bridging the first and second quarters to reclaim the lead. SMART-Gilas then answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a big possession for Ranidel De Ocampo, who grabbed two offensive boards before getting open for an uncontested layup with some excellent movement off the ball.

The first half ended in a deadlock at 30-apiece.

Iran then opened the third with an 8-0 blast on a three-pointer from big man Oshin Sahakian, a three-point play from Bahrami and a basket from Rouabeh Arghavan to take a 38-30 lead. The Iranians would push it up to as high as 10 points with 4:32 remaining in quarter, but SMART-Gilas would rally behind the outside shooting of Gabe Norwood, going on a 9-2 run to come to within three points, 48-45, with 1:58 remaining in the third.

Bahrami would hit a couple of free throws as Iran entered the final 10 minutes with a 53-47 lead.

Iran started the final period with a pair of dunks, one from Asghar Kardoust off an inbound play and another from Mohammad Jamshidi, that made it 57-47 for Iran with 8:30 remaining in the game. Kardoust then drew the fourth foul on Douthit, forcing the naturalized center to the bench. He sank both free throws and Jamshidi hit a triple that pushed their advantage up to 15 points, 62-47.

Baskets from Dillinger and Fonacier cut the lead back down to just 10, 62-52, with 6:25 remaining. But Hamed Afagh scored and Jamshidi hit another three-pointer to put it back up to 15.

The Filipinos scored again, but Enrico Villanueva, filling in for the foul-plagued regulars of the Philippines’ big man rotation, was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Kardoust on the other end, and Iran scored on a free throw and a triple in the aftermath to give Iran an 18-point lead, 72-54, with just 3:32 left to play.

Iran led by as much as 20 points in the dying minutes.

The Philippines struggled with fouls all game long, giving up 30 free throws attempts to Iran, who made 20 of them, compared to just nine attempts for themselves, while also turning the ball over 23 times. Iran also outscored Gilas 32-20 in the paint.

The loss relegated the Philippines to the battle for third place, where it awaits the loser of the other semifinal encounter between Japan and Qatar. The winner of that matchup advances to the finals against Iran.