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Games today:
USC Gym
5 p.m. – Iran vs. Japan
7 p.m. – RP vs. Chinese Taipei
The towering Iran got their bid in the 2nd Nokia Pilipinas Youth Invitational Baskeball Championships off to an explosive start after they outlasted the resilient Chinese Taipei in overtime, 93-81, yesterday at the University of San Carlos (USC) gym.
After a wild and wooly finish in regulation that saw both teams tied at 81-all, Iran asserted its dominance in overtime, holding its opponents scoreless and riding on the offensive potency of wily guard Soheil Yousefi, who scored seven straight points at the onset to help his squad to the victory.
Yousefi paced Iran with 24 points while lefty gunner Sajad Mashayekhi scored 16 markers, half of which coming in the fourth and overtime periods.
Chinese Taipei was in control of the match in the first half and led by as many as 10 points, 20-10, in the first stanza.
Iran erased that lead in a jiffy as they unleashed a 10-0 run anchored on Yousefi and Sedighi to tie the match a 22-all. Chinese Taipei ended the half with a 43-39 lead.
Iran seized the lead in the third period by scoring seven unanswered points to put them on top, 47-43, and eventually, 63-61, heading into the final period of the hotly-contested match-up. They remained in control of the lead in the fourth canto and had a 79-75 lead, after a basket by Mohammad Monji.
Chinese Taipei was not done as they turned to hotshot Ying Chun Chen, who delivered 12 of his 31 points in that stretch, including the game-tying basket with a minute left in regulation. They actually had several chances to win the game outright but Po Yu Kao's three-point attempt off a nice feed by Chen went long as the buzzer sounded.
Wei Ping Chung contributed 19 points for Chinese Taipei, who will be facing the hosts RP Nokia team today. The latter was facing Japan as of press time.
