Iran pulls off first upset at Asiad men's basketball
4/12/2006 16:15
Iran produced the first upset of the Doha Asian Games men's basketball
tournament by stunning defending champion South Korea 89-75 in Doha on
Sunday.
Falling down by 20-11 in the first quarter, South Korea steadily
pulled it back before overtaking the lead 40-38 at the half time.
However,
Iran started the second half with a 29-4 run for an unshakable lead at 67-44.
South Korea managed to cut it to 81-70 with four minutes and 19 seconds left,
but that's the closet they could go.
"I am not surprised by the result, we
can beat them," said Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, who contributed 18 points for
Iran.
"In the last game, we were just unlucky, but today it's our game,"
Bahrami added.
Iran, who suffered a 62-59 loss to Jordan in its first match
on Thursday, improved to an 1-1 record in Group A.
South Korea, who was famed
for its sharpshooters, finished just six-for-28 from beyond the arc and
28-for-74 from the field.
"We have problems with the fighting spirit of our
players, especially the veterans," said South Korea head coach Choi Bu-yung.
"They were not doing their best."
"It was not just the third quarter, it's
the whole game," Choi added.
Saman Veisi led Iran, who shot 34-for-70 from
the field, with 20 points and Hamed Ehadadi 17.
Former NBA player Ha
Seung-jin had a team-high 14 points in 21 minutes for South Korea.
"I am
happy with his performance, he did his best," Choi said. "But physically he is
not ready for a game like this. I have to put him on the bench for a while
because he is exhausted."
Earlier on Sunday, Jordan squandered a 12-point
lead in the third quarter before rallying past Syria 70-64 for its second win in
a row.
Syria, who lost to Qatar 99-59 on Thursday, ended the third quarter
with a 22-4 run to overtake the lead at 54-48. After that, Jordan woke up to
hold the Syrians to nil in almost four minutes late in the fourth quarter and
regain a 65-60 advantage.
With 19 seconds left on the clock, Ayman Idais of
Jordan missed three from the line. Luckily enough, his teammate Zaid Al Khas
pulled down the rebound to force another foul. Khas made both free throws to
make it 68-64 before Zaid Abbas concluded the scoring with a dunk.
Host Qatar
tied with Jordan with two wins against no loss in Group A after trouncing
Bahrain 97-56 in the last match of the day.
Twelve teams are competing in two
groups with top four finishers from each pool to qualify for the
quarter-finals.
Xinhua News
|
