Gilas Pilipinas vs. Iran Results & Highlights
The Philippines Men’s Basketball Team, Gilas Pilipinas defeated the visiting Asian rival, Iran national basketball team during a tune-up games on Wednesday night as the game held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum ended with the final score of 81-70 in favor of the Filipinos. The Gilas Pilipinas squad weathered a late rally by the visiting Iranians after they led during the majority of the game even taking on a 23-point lead in the third quarter.
NBA veteran and Iran’s most popular basketball icon Hamed Haddadi did not saw action during the game between Gilas Pilipinas and Iran but most of the squad in the Iran national basketball team were familiar with the Filipinos brand of play because they have been playing Gilas for the past few competitions in Asia.
Naturalized center Andray Blatche of the Philippines finished with game-highs 20 points and grabbed a total of 11 rebounds for the Nationals who are now preparing for a more intense practice in the next few days as they are also schedule to visit Greece on Friday for a three-week training camp in Europe as part of the country’s buildup for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament hosted by the Philippines next month.
Aside from Andray Blatche who topscored for Gilas Pilipinas Ryan Reyes, Terrence Romeo and Japeth Aguilar contributed with the much needed offensive powers as they scored with 12 points each. Talk ‘N Text veteran shooting guard and 2008 Rookie of the Year awardee Ryan Reyes had an impressive outing for the national team, one of the newest member of Gilas who really showed up his worth alongside Ray Parks who also scored with 11 points and five assists.
During the first quarter of the game, the Gilas Pilipinas squad pulled away because of Japeth Aguilar’s hot shooting scoring 10 points in the first quarter alone to lead an 18-3 burst. The Filipinos expanded their lead to as much as 20 points, but Iran successfully recovered after they found their outside touch burying three straight triples to ignite a 11-0 run to bring the lead to as low as nine, 43-34.
At halftime, the Gilas Pilipinas managed outscore the visiting Iranians with 48-38 halftime lead. Gilas grabbed its biggest lead at 23, 67-44, Iran had a mini-surge late in the third quarter, scoring six straight points to end the third quarter with the score of 67-50 in favor of Gilas.
Despite the fact that Iran played without superstars Hamed Haddadi, Mehdi Kamrany and Nikkhah Bahrami, they fought well during the fourth quarter and powered a 20-5 run and pulled within just two points, 72-70 with still 2:59 left. Gilas never lost its composure and bounced back with big shots. Veteran point guard LA Tenorio sank a tough floater, followed by Blatche’s crucial offensive output to push the lead to seven, 77-70, with 2:10 left.
Andray Blatche scored a very important block, followed by free throws from former NBA D-League player Ray Parks, and a layup by Terrence Romeo sealed the victory for the Gilas Pilipinas squad.
Watch the Highlights of the Gilas Pilipinas vs. Iran Tune-Up Game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZWuvXG_sf4