Castro, Blatche lead Gilas to 87-73 victory over reigning Fiba Asia champions
Jayson Castro of the Philippines stretches for a lay-up against Iran’s Hamed Haddadi in yesterday’s second round game of the Fiba Asia Championships in China.
Fiba.com
Impossible? Not with this Gilas Pilipinas squad as they toppled the mighty Asian champions Iran, 87-73, in the second round of the 2015 Fiba Asia Men’s Championship yesterday at the Changsha Social Work College Gym in Changsha, China.
Ranged against an opponent that has had their number in the last half decade and has gone unbeaten in 13 straight games in this particular tournament, the Gilas threw out the past and ushered in a new reality – one that saw Jayson Castro carve up the normally stout Iran defense for 26 points; a reality that had Andray Blatche and Calvin Abueva take turns in frustrating Iran’s beast from the middle east, Hamed Haddadi, into a subpar performance of just 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and a mere seven rebounds.
Blatche thoroughly outplayed his counterpart with 18 points and seven rebounds, a day after suffering an ankle injury versus Japan. Cebuano guard Terrence Romeo had 15, including consecutive triples that pushed the Gilas in front for good, 58-57, in the third while Abueva played his energizer role to a tee, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds, and most importantly, fishing Haddadi’s fifth and last foul off a technical foul called after a transition drive late in the match.
In spite of the overwhelming odds that stood before them after Iran blew out their first four opponents by an average of 49 points, the Filipinos were unfazed as they came back from an early deficit and ran Iran to the ground with a fiery second half shooting display.
Down 37-47 after Iran’s two-guard Samad Nikkhah Bahrami went on a scoring spree, Castro and Blatche connived to score nine straight to bring the Gilas to within a point, 46-47. The Philippine five eventually tied the match at 52-all after triples by Hontiveros and Castro before surging ahead, 58-57, after another pair of three-pointers by Romeo. The Gilas settled for a 65-60 lead heading to the last period.
The fourth then saw the Gilas take full control as they uncorked a 15-7 blast that gave them an 80-67 lead. Iran then unraveled near the end with Haddadi picking up his fourth and fifth fouls in succession during a sequence that saw Abueva drive into the chest of the latter in transition.
“This is what you hope for in this tournament – a great game. The guys were saying that we have a lot more work left and we have to take care of business tomorrow,” Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin was quoted as saying after the game by Inquirer.net.
The victory gave the Gilas a 3-1 win-loss record in Group E, the same as their victims. The national team will try for their fourth victory today against India in a game set for 2:30 p.m.
Bahrami scored 21 points to lead Iran.
THE SCORES
Philippines (87) – Castro 26, Blatche 18, Romeo 15, Abueva 13, De Ocampo 5, Norwood 5, Hontiveros 3, Taulava 2, Intal 0, Pingris 0, Ganuelas 0, Thoss 0.
Iran (73) – Bahrami 21, Mashayekhi 11, Kamrani 11, Haddadi 10, Davari 9, Jamshidi 7, Hassanzadeh 2, Sahakian 0, Afagh 0, Yakhchalidekordi 0, Davarpanahfard 0.
Quarter scores: 22-25, 37-43, 65-60, 87-73.