Iran pummels Gilas in FIBA Asia Cup semis, 77-60
By Alder Almo (philstar.com) Updated September 21, 2012 05:44 PM Comments (0) View comments
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MANILA, Philippines – Smart Gilas Pilipinas kissed their final hopes goodbye in a lackluster 77-60 loss to Iran in their semifinal clash Friday in the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.
Iran used a big second half to turn the close game into a rout and moved on to the Finals against the winner of the Japan-Qatar.
After a 30-all halftime break, Iran exploded bridging the last minute of the third canto and the start of the payoff period with a 12-0 run to erect a 64-47 spread.
Gary David’s free throws in the 1:15 mark cut Iran’s lead to just three, 50-47, but the Filipinos were held scoreless in the next six minutes.
While Gilas came out flat in the fourth quarter, Iran fired from all cylinders. Big man Asghar Khardoustpoustinsaraei connived with Sahmad Nikkah Bahrami and Mohmmad Jamshidi Jafarabadi in that telling 12-0 run.
Gilas failed to find a spark to rally back into the game as the Nationals fell to as many as 20 points.
Khardoustpoustinsaraei outplayed naturalized center Marcus Douthit, who sat out the final 8:06 of the game. The Iranian big man finished with 13 points on four of seven shooting and grabbed seven boards and made Douthit’s life miserable inside the paint.
After a mammoth 19-point and 18-rebound effort yesterday against Chinese Taipei, Douthit could only muster 11 points and seven boards while battling Khardoustpoustinsaraei and foul trouble.