In the fast-paced 3×3 play, a four point lead late in the game is never safe.
The Philippine men’s team learned that bitter lesson for yet another time.
The Gilas 3×3 squad squandered a four-point lead and went down against Iran, 14-11, in its opening game in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore on Friday.
The Filipinos saw their 11-7 advantage with 1:29 seconds to play wiped out by the Iranians behind seven straight unanswered points to take the win in Pool D.
Almond Vosotros had a chance to tie the game after a technical foul was called on Iran for delaying the game in the final 15 seconds and Gilas trailing, 11-12.
But the veteran guard missed the technical free throw, paving the way for Iran’s Peter Girgoorian to finish the game by sinking two free throws as the Filipinos gave up a duty foul to try and stop the clock.
The Filipinos will meet Qatar later tonight in a must-win situation to stay in the race for a berth in the knockout stage.
Iran has been undefeated so far in four games in the tournament after topping the Qualifying Draw D with a three-game sweep of its schedule.
The Iranians routed Brunei, 21-7, edged Malaysia 21-19, and whipped Hong Kong, 21-5
The scores:
Iran (14) – Girgoorian 7, Vahedi 5. Arabzadeh 1, Yousof Vand 1.
Philippines (11) – Bates 5, Vosotros 4, Napoles 2.
