INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - With height on its side, Iran overpowered Nokia Team Pilipinas, 76-70, in the quarterfinals of the Fiba Asia U16 Men's Championship Monday evening at the Bandaraya Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The Iranians, who lost twice to the Philippines in a pocket tournament in Cebu two weeks back, simply imposed their might as the Nationals decided to mix it up in the paint after a miserable time firing from the outside.

Slotman Mir Fattahi terrorized the lanes by delivering 20 points and 17 rebounds while point guard Soheil Yousefi produced 15 points and seven boards that provided the telling blows for Team Philippines on its first defeat in the tournament.

The setback has forced the Filipinos in a must-win situation against the Jordanians in a match still being played at presstime.

A triumph over Jordan will set the stage for a Philippines-China semifinal showdown while Iran is set to face Korea in the other semifinal pairing of the meet, which offers two seats to the 2010 Fiba World U17 Men's Championship in Hamburg, Germany.

?It's tough, but very doable,'' said RP coach Eric Altamirano on their chances against the Chinese, who bamboozled the Koreans, 121-51, in their quarterfinal face-off.

Kiefer Ravena sparked a comeback from a 12-point hole that pushed the Nationals ahead, 60-59, in the early stages of the fourth period.

But Fattahi, stocky and almost immovable in the lane, restored order on the Iranian offense that allowed them to build a 10-point advantage going into the final five minutes.

``We fell into a deep hole early and spent a lot of energy catching up,'' said Altamirano. ``They capitalized on their inside game, they attacked our big men and put us in foul trouble.''

Ravena pumped in 26 points and wingman Von Pessumal added 15 for Team Pilipinas, who just couldn't summon the shooting touch it displayed against Syria.

Iran?s Serbian consultant, Vaselin Matic, expressed his admiration for Team Pilipinas, but was surprised when the Filipinos failed to get their rhythm from the outside that forced them to hammer it out underneath.

?They tried to challenge us underneath. We have no choice, we have to use size to our advantage,? said Matic, a close friend of Smart Gilas mentor Rajko Toroman.

The scores:

IRAN 76?Fattahi 20, Yousefi 15, Zangeneh 11, Ogaghi 10, Sedishi, 9, Mashayekhi 8, Khademnamdari 2, Faghihparvar 1, Abediaraei 0, Taherikolahdooz 0, Monji 0, Behzadi 0

PHILIPPINES 70?Ravena 26, Pessumal 13, Pate 8, Tolomia 6, Teng 5, Alolino 5, Romero 4, Ferrer 2, Sara 1, Javillonar 0, Bantayan 0

Quarters: 15-19, 38-26, 59-55, 76-70