PHILIPPINES ROUTS IRAN TO ENTER FIBA ASIA U16 SEMI FINALS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 03 Oct 2013
The Philippines Under 16 basketball team routed hosts Iran by 27 points, 79-52 , to enter the semi finals of the FIBA Asia Men?s U16 Championships at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran where they will face first round tormentors Chinese-Taipei to whom they dropped a close game 95-90, while Japan who beat South Korea in a close game 75-71 will face the winner of China vs Kazakhstan in the other semi finals.
Chinese-Taipei earned the right to play the Philippines by beating upset-conscious Bahrain 70-67.
The win over Iran avenged the loss of our Men?s team in the last FIBA Asia Championships at the Mall of Asia Arena while the victory over Chinese-Taipei in Manila assured the Philippines of a place in the World Cup in Spain next year while denying Chinese-Taipei of the honor.
Chinese-Taipei is a tough team with guard Tu Su Han who scored 29 points against the Philippines the biggest threat.
In their first round clash the Philippines led 48-44 at the half but Taiwan picked up its defensive intensity, led 68-66 going into the final quarter to seal a narrow victory with small forward Chan Chun adding 18 points.
For the Philippines Michael Joseph Nieto had 26 points and 16 big rebounds while Andres Paul Desiderio scored 21 points and pulled down 9 boards. while denying Chinese-Taipei of the honor.
The Philippines raced to a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter against Iran and although Iran ended the second stanza with a 6-0 run the Filipinos went into the dugout at halftime with a 38-24 lead.
Iran clawed back in the third quarter to cut the Philippines lead to 11 at 57-46 but a scorching 18-1 run in the final quarter opened up a 75-47 lead that put the game away with Iran only able to score a basket with just 1:14 left in the game.
Jose Lorenzo Mendoza top-scored with 16 points and added 4 rebounds,e Michael Nieto added 16 points, pulled down 6 rebounds and had 2 assists and 2 steals, Jose Go came through with 12 points, Andres Desiderio finished with 11 points and 7 boards while Carlos Abadiza finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds for coach Mike Jarin?s squad.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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