Nikka Bahrami has unquestionably been the deadliest gun for Iran.
But last night, the 6-foot-6, sweet-shooting forward, came up with his heroics on the opposite end of the floor and helped gift Iran with the fourth Fiba-Asia Cup championship here.
Aren Davoudi, a pesky guard, hit the go-ahead triple with 18 seconds remaining before Bahrami came up with the defensive play of the tournament that sealed a 53-51 championship game victory over Japan at the Ota Gymnasium.
Bahrami picked the pocket of Takatoshi Furukawa in the potential game-tying play for the Japanese after that as Iran completed the 10-nation, 11-day tournament undefeated even without star center and NBA veteran Hamed Ehaddadi.
Earlier, Qatar exploited Team Philippines’ poor shooting to hammer out a 79-63 victory for third place, equal its highest ever finish.
The Filipinos were cold all game, and injuries compounded matters for the reigning Jones Cup champions with LA Tenorio and Ranidel de Ocampo limping out and Marcus Douthit playing the final half practically on one good leg.
Tenorio pulled his left hamstring at the halfway point of the second period, De Ocampo twisted his left ankle near the end of the third quarter and Douthit bravely returned after being carried off the floor with 1:36 left before the halftime break.
The game was the same as in the sputtering victory over Taipei on Friday, as the Filipinos struggled big time from afar and couldn’t support Douthit’s efforts underneath after throwing up bricks all game long.
Gary David and Jeff Chan hit just two triples between them, and the entire Philippine total was a wobbly 2-of-18 from beyond trifectaville.
Qatar, meanwhile, played its best game in the tournament and duplicated a third place finish in 2010 when it also took the Philippines out in the battle for third, 80-75.
Douthit still finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, but his injury kept him off the battle off the boards in the final two quarters as the Qataris went on to post a 47-30 rebounding advantage.
“Bottom line is we couldn’t make our shots,” Philippine coach Chot Reyes said. “We played good defense and our effort was commendable, but we need to make shots in order to win basketball games.” The loss marked the first losing streak for the team since it got together more than a month ago.
But Reyes said that winning the Jones Cup as a terrible underdog in Taipei last month and a fourth place finish here definitely showed the promise of the program.
Iran wins Fiba-Asia Cup; Team Philippines fourth
