Gilas exorcise ghost of the past versus Iran
fiba.basketball · unknown author · 2026-08-30T14:14:38+00:00 · nguồn gốc
PASAY CITY (Philippines) - The Philippines completed a 2-game sweep of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers' fourth window following a convincing 68-56 victory over Iran on Sunday night.
Similar to their eventual conquest of Jordan last Friday, Gilas bucked a slow start before putting together a strong finish behind a 14-2 closeout to not only go .500 in Group E but to flip the script against Team Melli.
The Filipino dribblers lost to their West Asian counterparts in the last 2 times they battled in the FIBA stage, including a 78-70 result back in the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers' Second Round back in November of 2018.
That loss actually happened at the SM Mall of Asia Arena as well, the exact same venue where the 'Puso'-era of Jimmy Alapag & Co. bowed to the Iranians in the Final of the then-FIBA Asia Championship in 2013.
But the present-day squad made sure that Iran won't win for a third successive time, relying on a balanced attack to deny their tormentors en route to winning their second straight after a 4-game losing slide.
Heroes were aplenty in the triumph, with Dwight Ramos and Juan Gomez de Liano leading the way with 16 points apiece and 10 rebounds combined as the tandem spearheaded the aforementioned late pullaway.
Also part of that rally was Kai Sotto, who went on to notch another double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds as the troika starred for a team that got the job done in Window 4 despite missing Justin Brownlee.
*This article will be updated.