Philippines upset Iran on penultimate day of group action

CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - The Philippines started the FIBA Asia Championship with a surprise defeat to Palestine but the outlook is looking much brighter for Tab Baldwin's team following its upset of defending champions Iran on Monday.

The Filipinos defeated previously unbeaten Iran, 87-73, in Group E.

Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche wreaked havoc against the Iranians, the side that beat them in the Final in Manila two years ago.

Castro, an all-tournament selection in 2013, finished with 26 points and three steals.

Blatche, the standout player for the Philippines at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, had 18 points and four steals.

Baldwin says his team shouldn't be satisfied with a win over Iran.

The golden egg is still in front of us, that’s what we came here for. It's not in our hands yet, it's far from it. Still lots of work to do - Baldwin 

"This should not be the highlight of our tournament," said Baldwin, who hailed the unselfish play of his charges.

"This game was won by individuals playing as a team."

Baldwin also liked the attitude of his players in the changing room after the final buzzer.

"I was impressed inside the locker room after the game," he said. "There's a lot of humility. 

"Players recognize there is a lot of tournament left in front of us."

The two sides are at the top of Group E with 3-1 records, but the Filipinos will clinch first place if they beat India on Tuesday.

Palestine, the side that shocked the Philippines on opening day, suffered a second straight defeat, falling 74-67 to Japan.

Joji Takeuchi had 21 points and 19 rebounds for Team Hayabusa, who now look good bets to qualify for the Quarter-Finals.

Japan are fourth in Group E but like third-place Palestine have a 2-2 record.

The Japanese face Hong Kong on Tuesday while Palestine go up against Iran.

India are fifth with a 2-2 record but they had to pull out all stops on Monday to get that second victory.

The Indians trailed for most of this game before a strong finish against Hong Kong which gave them a 76-71 triumph.

Adam Xu’s basket with 3:30 left in the game gave Hong Kong a 64-60 advantage but India outscored their opponents, 16-7, the rest of the way.

In Group F, China led from start to finish and rolled to a 90-72 victory over Lebanon on Monday to remain the only unbeaten side in the tournament.

Yi Jianlian put in another impressive display with 19 points and five other Chinese players hit double figures.

Yi was terrific.

The veteran was seven of 11 from the floor and a perfect five of five at the line.

The Chinese will wrap up their Second Round on Tuesday against Qatar in a battle for first place.

Qatar overcame an early deficit and beat Korea, 69-63, to clinch a spot in the Quarter-Finals.

The Koreans, coming off an 85-71 triumph over Lebanon, scored the game's first eight points and led 12-2 but Qatar controlled the tempo and fought their way back, taking a 35-31 advantage to half-time.

Getting 16 points from their 33-year-old center Mohd Mohamed and solid contributions from Ali Saad, Trey Johnson (both15pts) and Khalid Suliman Abdi (10pts), Qatar had the balanced scoring attack they needed.

Korea made just six of 25 (24 percent) from long range.

In Classification Round games, Singapore defeated Malaysia, 92-59 and Chinese Taipei hammered Kuwait, 99-69.

FIBA