Asghar Kaardoust (C) of Iran shoots against South Korean basketball players during a match at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, the Philippines, on August 2, 2013.
The national Iranian menâ„¢s basketball team has registered its second straight victory at the group stage of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship in the Philippines.
The Iranian team, the two-time FIBA Asia champion, fashioned out a convincing 76-65 win over South Korea in a bruising Group C encounter at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Friday.
South Korea was whistled for two early shooting fouls in the first few moments of the first quarter. Towering Hamed Haddadi, who played five seasons in the NBA, and Oshin Sahakian stepped to the line to give Iran a 3-0 advantage.
The Iranians went on a run capped by Haddadi at the 4:48 mark of the first quarter for an 11-4 count in their favor. However, a triple by South Koreaâ„¢s Cho Sungmin trimmed their lead down to four at 16-12 with 2:21 left in the first.
A free throw from Yun Hoyoung then inched South Korea close at 18-15 to end the first quarter.
South Korea controlled much of the second half, taking a 34-30 lead into intermission, before Iran came to life in the third quarter, outscoring their opponents 21-7 to seize a 51-41 lead heading into the fourth.
Iranians kept their distance in the early part of the fourth. A breakaway dunk by Haddadi at the 6:06 mark gave Iran a 57-47 lead. Afterwards, South Koreaâ„¢s basketball players could get two free throws and a lay-up.
In return, Haddadi scored seven straight points to give Iran a 64-50 edge with only 4:12 remaining in the game.
South Koreans tried to mount a late run, but they were hapless as they could not cope with Haddadi’s dominance and lost.
Haddadi scored 30 points for Iran to stand on top of the score sheet. Samad Nikkhah Bahrami backstopped Hadadi with a good all-around effort of 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
“We expected such a game against (South) Korea, especially since they won last night against China and they had a lot of confidence,” said Iranâ„¢s coach Mehmed Becirovic. Å“We had problems on defense. At halftime, we talked about it and we improved.”
Å“In the first half we played bad. We didnâ„¢t focus. In the second half we played better offense and better defense,” Hadadi commented.
On Thursday, the Iranian team marked the most incredible final score in a 90-point margin of victory, and trounced Malaysia 115-25.
The Iranian national basketball squad will play against China on Saturday.
The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship opened in the Philippines on August 1, and will wrap up on August 11. A total of 15 teams are competing in the sports event.
Iran is now at the top of Group C with four points. China has taken the second position with 3 points followed by South Korea with 3 and Malaysia with 2 points.
Taiwan leads Group A with 4 points followed by the Philippines, Jordan and Saudi Arabia with 4, 2 and 2 points respectively.
Japan stands at the top of Group B with 3 points. Qatar and Hong Kong come behind Japan with 2 and 1 points.
MP/MHB
Republished from: Press TV