Iran marches to FIBA Asia 2013 finals; beats Chinese Taipei

This time, Iran made sure there would be no magical comeback from Chinese Taipei.

Behind the brilliant quarterbacking of Mahdi Kamrani, Iran cruised to a 79-60 victory over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championship on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Iranians, who have won all of their games by double-digit margins in the tournament, will look to win its third Asian title in the last four stagings of the championship in the final match on Sunday against the winner of the evening match between the Philippines and South Korea.

Chinese Taipei, coming off an emotional victory over China in the quarterfinals, came out with guns ablaze, taking a nine-point lead, 23-14, in the first quarter.

But Kamrani, who finished with 19 points, six assists, and six rebounds, steadied the ship for Iran, which took a 41-35 lead at the half.

Iran shackled Chinese Taipei’s guns in the third quarter, allowing only four points against the normally potent Taiwanese offense.

Chinese Taipei, which won games after trailing by double-digit deficits against Jordan, the Philippines, and China earlier in the competition, never threatened the rest of the way.

Former NBA center Hamed Haddadi finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for Iran.

Naturalized big man Quincy Davis scored 16 points to lead Chinese Taipei, whose top guns Tien Lei, Lu Cheng-Ju, Lin Chih-Chieh, and Wen Tseng Ting were each held to six points or less.

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