Phl yields to Iran, absorbs third loss
Games on Monday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 7:30 p.m. – Philippines vs Qatar
Team Pilipinas fought Team Iran in a nip-and-tuck battle in the first three quarters only to lose rhythm and shooting in the payoff period, and reeled to a 73-81 loss at the start of the second round of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers at the Azady Gym in Tehran last night.
Christian Standhardinger lived up to his role as a naturalized player, coming through with 30 points, but practically the entire team threw bricks in a fourthquarter meltdown as the national quintet went down to 4-3 (win-loss) in the Group F leaderboard.
Team Phl’s defense also broke down in the crunch, and the home team pounded the opportunity to open a double-digit spread at 77-66 before eventually nailing a sixth win against a single loss.
The Philippines plays host to Qatar at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Monday while Iran will be the guest team versus Japan in Tokyo also on Monday.
Qatar has been a pretty solid team in games it has played with naturalized player Clinton Johnson III in harness.
The guessing game is whether the Qataris are coming over with the 6-foot-5 Jackson, Mississippi native.
With the three-year NBA veteran leading their charge, the Qataris swept Team Iraq in their home-and-away series and narrowly dropped a 75-77 loss to Team Iran.
Johnson, a former Cleveland Cavalier, Toronto Raptor and LA Laker, was absent in the Qatar lineup in its three other games. The Qataris suffered shattering losses in those games.
But Team Qatar was highly competitive with Johnson around.
A two-time NBA D-League All-Star and All-NBA D-League First Team awardee with the Bakersfield Jam in 2011, Johnson averaged 17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his first three games in the FIBAWC.
Three-point shooting proved to be the big difference in Iran’s fourth-quarter breakaway.
Held to only four three-pointers through the first 30 minutes of play, the Iranians struck with three dagger triples to highlight their decisive surge from a 63-61 count.
The Filipinos, meanwhile, just couldn’t find the target in the fourth quarter.
The two teams had identical 3-of-14 three-point shootings in the first half where Iran held a 40-38 edge.
But then all Filipino gunners turned cold with Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter both ending with 1-of-7 threepoint clips, Beau Belga 1-of-5 and Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood both at 0-2.
The Philippines actually was held to two field-goal baskets in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Iranians found their range in time, with former Meralco import Mohammad Jamshidi, big man Rouzbeh Arghavan and Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi hurting the Filipinos with a crucial three-pointer each in the final canto.
Standhardinger was almost unstoppable in the first half, scattering 19 points on 7-of-9 field shooting plus 5-of-6 free throws. The scores: Iran 81 – Bahrami 21, Mashayekhi 19, Kasemi 11, Arghavan 8, Yakhchali 7, Jamshidi 6, Mirza 5, Hassanzadeh 4, Hadadi 0.
Philippines 73 – Standhardinger 30, Cabagnot 9, Belga 7, Lee 6, Almazan 5, Thompson 5, Lassiter 4, Taulava 3, Norwood 2, Sangalang 2, Malicisi 0, Erram 0.
Quarterscores: 21, 22, 40-38, 63-59, 81-73