Mahram sticks dagger in Smart Gilas heart

MANILA—Samad Nikkham Bahrami sank cushion free throws in the dying seconds as Mahram of Iran escaped with an 80-77 cliffhanger over a hard-fighting Smart Gilas Pilipinas to reach the finals of the Fiba Asia Champions Cup last night at the Philsports Arena. Bahrami’s three freebies in the last 19.5 seconds helped the Iranian club steady a shaky endgame and earn a another crack at the crown it has captured the past two years. Mahram had taken a 77-70 lead when Chris Tiu sandwiched a scrambling defensive stop with a layup and a trey that cut the deficit to 75-77, 29 ticks remaining. The Nationals countered a split by Bahrami with a quick Jvee Casio hit and had the chance to force extension after Bahrami restored a three-point cushion for Iran with two more freebies, 11 seconds remaining. But Mark Barroca and Marcio Lassiter misfired their desperation three-pointers on the other end to send Smart Gilas to a battle for the bronze. The Nationals will play either Al Riyadi or Al Rayyan, which were playing their semifinal match at press time, in the fight for third. Smart Gilas has now lost all of its five encounters with Mahram since joining the continental club championshipsthree years ago. The Iranians held the Filipinos without a field goal for almost five minutes after Marcus Douthit’s 12-footer stitched the gap, 69-73, midway in the fourth. During that scoreless spell, Smart Gilas was 0-of-8 from the field with Mac Baracael misfiring a couple of jumpers and Douthit missing four straight on top of three bungled free throws. Meanwhile, forward Wissam Yaqqub came off the bench and churned out his best output with a team-high 17 points as Al Jalaa defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad, 85-77, to remain on track for a better finish in the tournament. Guard Sari Papazian and Marcelle Yaqqub added 16 each for the Syrians, who placed sixth last year in Doha and could secure fifth with another victory today over ASU of Jordan. Islam Abbas banged in 32 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, eight of them offensive boards, to lead ASU of Jordan over Duhok of Iraq, 98-90, in the other classification match. The scores:
MAHRAM 80—Bahrami 19, Kamrani 17, Tidiane 17, Williams 16, Afagh 11, Kardoost 0, Davari 0, Nezafat 0, Davoudi 0.
SMART GILAS 77—Douthit 25, Casio 21, Lassiter 8, Aguilar 8, Tui 7, Lutz 4, Barroca 2, Hontiveros 2, Baracael 0, Taulava 0.
Quarters: 20-21, 45-39, 62-all, 80-77