Gilas Pilipinas vs. Iran: Score, Reaction from 2015 FIBA Asia Championships

Jayson William scored 26 points and Andray Blatche added 18 as the Philippines earned its most important win of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship on Monday with an 87-73 triumph over Iran.  

It is Gilas' first time defeating Iran on the FIBA Asia stage, per the organization's official website. The win puts the Philippines in first place in Group E with a 3-1 overall record, and it will enter Tuesday's matchup against India with a chance to establish themselves among the event's favorites.

“If we take care of business tomorrow, we may have put ourselves in a little bit better position in the quarterfinals,” Philippines coach Tab Baldwin said, per Mikkel Bolante of InterAksyon.com. “But the games won’t be easy. That’s what we were trying to do we’re trying to come in here and get the first spot through the first two pools. If we do our job tomorrow, it looks like we’ll have that.”

Iran, which had gone unbeaten thus far in China, held a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter but sputtered on both ends of the floor in the second half. The favorites were outscored 50-30 in the half overall, as Blatche and William helped Gilas catch fire.

"Once they got closer and they started to make shots, we were a little shell-shocked," Iran head coach Dirk Bauermann said, per GMANetwork.com.

Outside of a disappointing five turnovers, William was hot throughout, knocking down 11 of his 18 shots and adding three steals. Blatche added seven rebounds and four steals while getting to the line 11 times. The former NBA big man has been brilliant for the Philippines throughout the tournament, giving Gilas a dynamic inside presence that's been difficult to defend.

Terrence Romeo (15 points) and Calvin Abueva (13 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Philippines. Romeo shot just 4-of-11 from the field but hit a three in the third quarter that gave Gilas the lead, capping off their comeback run. Ranidel de Ocampo also added 10 rebounds.

“This game was won by individuals playing as a team. That may not make a lot of sense to a lot of people but to me that’s the essence of this particular basketball team,” Baldwin said, per Bolante. "And Filipino basketball. It’s very easy for Filipino basketball to become very individualistic and forget the teammates. But today, we were able to exploit the skills of our individuals while still playing as a team.”

Captain Samad Nikkhah Bahrami led the way for Iran, scoring a team-high 21 points while knocking down five three-pointers. Sajjad Mashayekhi (11 points), Mehdi Kamrani (11 points) and Hamed Haddadi (10 points) were also in double figures. The Iranians were largely undone by poor nights from the field from Kamrani (3-of-12) and Oshin Sahakian (0-of-5) and their 16 turnovers, which helped spark Gilas' comeback.

From a tournament-wide perspective, neither team is in all that much trouble. Iran will have a chance to eliminate Palestine on Tuesday. If the Group E favorites do so, it could move back into first place with a Philippines loss to India. Otherwise, it's locked into a solid second-place finish and would still be favorites against the third-place Group F team.

The Philippines are looking good for a top-two seed so long as it avoids disaster against India. Gilas haven't lost since their opener with Palestine, so the odds are good that they'll take care of business.