Manila , Philippines : Without its main big man, the Philippine national basketball team was outmatched in the paint and fell to Iran 85-71, ending up with silver at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. Injured center Marcus Douthit did not play, allowing Iran's behemoth center Hamed Haddadi to roam near the basket virtually unimpeded.
Gilas' feared shooters did not bring their A game, and missed open jumpers throughout the contest. Yet the home team still kept it close for more than a half, as it made up with feistiness what it lacked in size.
They just had no answer for the 7'2" Haddadi, who was later named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He scored 29 points and hauled in16 rebounds in the final match.
"We were overmatched from the start," Gilas coach Chot Reyes admitted after the game. But his team still kept it close for much of the contest, and Iran did not dominate the way they did every other team in the tournament.
The first half was evenly played, giving the raucous sellout crowd that included both President Aquino and Vice President Binay a strong reason to start seeing gold.
Samad Nikkah Bahrami opened the game with a long two. Gilas had multiple good looks at the basket but their shots refused to fall.
Two free throws from Jeff Chan at the 7:51 mark of the first tied the ball game at 2-all.
The two teams exchanged 4-0 spurts for another tie at 6-all, but Japeth Aguilar broke the tie at the 5:56 mark with a basket over Hamed Haddadi.
A triple by Nikkah Bahrami at the 3:20 mark gave Iran an 11-10 lead. Two free throws from Oshin Sahakian extended their lead to three points.
A three point shot from Jayson Castro tied the game anew at 15-all, but a basket from Hamed Sohrabnejad ended the first with Iran holding a 17-15 lead.
Castro and Haddadi exchanged inside baskets to start the second quarter. This was quickly followed by Jimmy Alapag and Mahdi Kamrany trading triples.
Hamed Afagh sank a difficult baseline jumper at the 8:16 mark of the second to give Iran a 24-20 lead. Haddadi then added a dunk at the 6:31 mark to extend their lead to six points.
The game was halted at that point as the scoreboard malfunctioned. The two teams had to shoot around to stay warm.
When play resumed, Haddadi scored again on the low block. LA Tenorio replied with a three to cut Iran's lead down to five points.
Sahakiam and Davoudi combined to give Iran a 32-23 lead with 4:24 left in the first half. Ranidel de Ocampo then sank a triple, followed by a free throw from Castro to bring the lead back down to five points.
Castro added a high arching layup over Haddadi, but the big man replied with a three point play at the 2:45 mark for a 35-29 count in their favor. De Ocampo scored on a floater to cut the lead down to four points.
Exclamation triple before halftime buzzer
Just before the halftime buzzer, Larry Fonacier sank an exclamation triple, triggering an eruption in the arena that seemed to shift the momentum to the home team, as they entered their locker room just one point down, 35-34.
Castro led Gilas with 10 points in the first half while De Ocampo added five. Haddadi led Iran with 11 points as he steamrolled defenders inside without Marcus Douthit.
Castro started the third quarter by making two free throws to give Gilas a 36-35 lead, but Haddadi and Nikkah Bahrami strung together four quick points to give the lead back to Iran.
Iran made a killing from the free throw line as Gilas was whistled for their fifth foul with 7:53 still left in the third.
A Kamrany putback gave Iran a 45-36 lead at the 7:03 mark of the third to force a Gilas timeout.
Castro and Alapag stepped up to score five straight points to keep Gilas in the game at 45-41.
Iran then went on another run to build a 53-43 lead, before a reverse from Pingris trimmed the lead down to eight points.
Nikkah Bahrami made two freethrows at the 2:02 mark to answer a triple from Jeff Chan. Iran led 57-48 at that point.
Fonacier sank another trey to cut Iran's lead down to six points, but the referees kept whistling the Gilas players for fouls, awarding freethrows to the Iranians.
Alapag nailed two free throws to cut Iran's lead down to just six points but Kamrany sank a buzzer beating trey to give Iran a 62-53 lead heading into the last quarter.
Gilas groped for form to start the fourth. Haddadi made them pay by making a basket down low at the 7:35 mark to extend Iran's lead to 14 at 68-54.
Haddadi added a two handed dunk on the next play, but Tenorio scored on a layup over him to trim the lead back down to 14 points.
After another Haddadi basket, Tenorio made a triple to bring the lead down to 13 at 72-59, halfway into the final quarter. Haddadi was then whistled for basket interference to get Gilas within 11, but Haddadi tipped in his own miss to re-establish a 13 point lead.
Gary David scored on a wide open basket, but he was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul at the 3:09 mark. Two free throws from Nikkah Bahrami and a dunk from Haddadi extended Iran's lead to 15 with only 2:57 left in the game.
De Ocampo completed a rare four point play to give Gilas a fighting chance.
With the lead down to 11, Iran expertly ran the clock down while setting up a Kamrany layup.
The Iranians then closed out the game by sinking their free throws
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