Iran beats host to win third Asian Champion title

The Iran team celebrates after winning their FIBA Asia Championship final basketball game against Philippines in Manila, Aug 11, 2013. Iran beat the Philippines 85-71. [Photo/Agencies]

MANILA - Iran proved to be too strong for host Philippines to conquer as the West Asian giant dominated the final of 27th Asian Men's Basketball Championship at 85-71 here on Sunday and won their third title in six years with an unbeaten 9-0 record.

Hamed Haddadi, who led the All-Star team of the tournament, led Iran with 29 points and 16 rebounds. He also earned the Most Valuable Player award.

Samad Nikkhah Bahrami finished with 19 points and seven assists. Mahdi Kamrany and Oshin Sahakian combined for 27 points. Sahakian also added 12 rebounds.

The Philippines played the match missing their injured big man Marcus Douthit. Jayson William led the host with 18. But he and Alapag were only two Philippine players who scored in double digits. Alapag took 13.

The runner-up is still the host's best finish in the tournament since 1985, when they won the title for the last time.

Despite the silver medal, the Philippines also nabbed one of the three slots for next year's FIBA World Cup in Spain. The last one went to South Korea, who beat Chinese Taipei in the third place classification match.