The Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team of the Philippines wins over the former undefeated and seems to be formidable Iranian national basketball team with the final score of 87-73. The Philippines finally avenged their previous loss against Iran during the 2013 FIBA Asia in Manila.
The Filipinos defeated Iran for the very first time since their last meeting during the 2015 Jones Cup in Taiwan behind the impressive 26 points performance of Jayson Castro.
With the victory of the Philippines, the nationals have secured a quarterfinals slot and may end up as the top seed team entering the playoffs should they defeat India on Tuesday.
Jayson William who led the Philippines shot 11-of-18 from the field to post a game-high 26 points while naturalized center Andray Blatche finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds despite nursing from an ankle injury.
The undefeated Iranians led by as much as 10 points in the third quarter but the Gilas Pilipinas squad went on a run and shut down the Iranians offensively to take the lead and never look back.
The Philippines will face the 61st ranked India on Tuesday for its final assignment in the second round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships.
Watch the Highlights Video of Gilas vs. Iran:
