by Jonas Terrado
Iran made life more uncomfortable for the Philippines as the former Asian champion rallied hard to pull off a tough 78-70 win in the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Mohammad Jamshidi and Behnam Yakchahli rallied the Iranians back from an eight-point fourth quarter to hand the Philippines a second straight home defeat while putting its bid to qualify for next year’s World Cup in peril.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s team dropped to fifth place in Group F at 5-5, allowing Iran to stay in second place at 7-3 and letting Japan move into third at 6-4 following its 86-70 victory over Kazakhstan at home in Toyama City.
The top three teams in Group F are assured of slots in the World Cup in China, while the fourth placer can advance if it emerges with a better record than its counterpart in Group E.
Jayson Castro continued his sensational showing against the visitors, but couldn’t lift Gilas to victory in front of more than 14,000 fans.
Gilas went ahead 70-69 when June Mar Fajardo scored off Castro’s miss layup with 1:03 remaining in the fourth.
But Yakchahli, who last September frustrated Meralco while playing for Iranian club Petrochimi in a bronze medal game in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Thailand, knocked down a jumper to regain the lead, 71-70, 42.3 remaining.
Troy Rosario missed a corner three and Jamshidi, who had earlier carried Iran from a 60-52 deficit by scoring 12 of the team’s 15 points at one point, scored a layup for 73-70.
Scottie Thompson’s inbound was intercepted by Mohammad Hasanzadeh, forcing Gilas to resort to fouling the Iranians.
Iran, which went to Manila sans top stars Hamed Haddadi, Samad Nikkah Bahrami, Arsalan Kazemi and Sajjad Mashayehki for various reasons, celebrated a hard-earned win even as the Philippines began to ponder on what lies ahead.
The sixth and final window of the qualifiers is set February with Gilas needing to beat Qatar and Kazakhstan on the road while looking for help from other teams to confirm its place in the World Cup.
As things stand now, the Nationals must sweep their remaining games against Qatar on Feb. 21, 2019 and Kazakhstan on Feb. 24 in Kazakhstan to keep their flickering bid alive.
