Philippines cripples Iran 79-52 to enter Fiba Asia U16 semis

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines blasted home team Iran 79-52 late Wednesday en route to the semifinals of the 2013 Fiba Asia Under-16 championships in Tehran.

Jose Lorenzo finished with 16 points  while four others doled out double-digit outputs for the PH youth squad, which gets a crack at the finals against Taiwan on Thursday.

The Filipinos zoomed to an early 20 point lead, but needed to fend off an Iranian comeback in the second half. It was a more dominant fourth quarter for the Philippines, though, as it held Iran to just six markers.

Soheil Farhadichalabeh was the lone double-digit scorer for Iran with 26 points in almost 37 minutes of play.

Earlier, the Taiwanese tripped Bahrain 70-67 to barge into the top four of the competition which stakes three berths to the 2014 Fiba U-17 World Championships.