Fiba Asia Champions Cup: Bolts fall to Iran’s Petrochimi in semis

Photo from Fiba.com

Meralco bowed to Petrochimi of Iran, 79-74, in the semifinals of the Fiba Asia Champions Cup Monday night at Studio 29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

Despite getting booted out of gold medal contention, the undermanned Bolts, who were without Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Jared Dillinger and Ranidel de Ocampo for the entirety of the club tournament.

Newsome and Hodge, who are Filipino-Americans, failed to get clearance to play while Dillinger and De Ocampo are still out with injuries.

Still, Meralco made a good account of itself after recovering from a couple of losses to start the tournament and crashing the semifinals following a 33-point ripping of defending champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon.

With Allen Durham leading the way, the Bolts put up quite a fight against Petrochimi, which needed two free throws from Farid Aslani Haji Abadi with 22 seconds left to clinch the game.

Baser Amer made a layup to put the Bolts within a possession, 77-74, with 24 ticks to go.

Durham finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Diamond Stone added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. Garvo Lanete and Mike Tolomia chipped in 12 and nine points, respectively.

National team mainstay Behnam Yakhchali powered the Iranians with a game-high 29 points on top of eight rebounds.

The Iranians will face either Alvark Tokyo or SK Knights for the gold.