DOHA (Qatar) - India and Philippines secure wins in their final games at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship to claim 5th and 7th place, respectively.

The Philippines got their win in exciting fashion, coming from down by as much as 13 points to Iran before winning 95-87. With the win, the Philippines secured 7th place.

The turning point was a 16-2 run to end the third quarter for the Philippines, that was Gilas youth overtake the lead for good. The key for the Philippines win in this game was their three-point shooting as they knocked down 12 three-pointers on 29 attempts (41.4 percent). The majority of the long range shots were from Alex Konov (4 three-pointers, team-high 18 points) and Lorenzo Competente (4 three-pointers, 14 points).

Another major factor was the ball movement as the Philippines collected 24 assists, their most so far in the competition. Jared Bahay led the team with 7 assists (to go with 13 points), but the Philippines had 3 other players record at least 3 dimes.

Iran had three players score at least 20 points in this game, but did not have enough firepower to keep up with the sharpshooting Philippines.

Mohammadamin Khosravi led Iran with 28 points on 12-15 shooting while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Sarem Jafari (23 points, 6 rebounds) and Mohammad Amini (20 points, 7 rebounds) were the other two top performers.

In the battle for 5th place, India beat Korea, 90-80, virtually leading from start to finish.

This was the 4th time that these two teams have played against each other in the U16 Asian Championship and the first time that India emerged victorious. At 5th, this is also the highest Final Standing by any India team in the U16 Asian Championship, the previous record being 10th place in 2009 and 2011.

Lokendra Singh (29 points, 20 rebounds), Jaideep Rathore (20 points, 8 assists, 3 steals), Kushal Singh (18 points, 9 rebounds), and Harsh Dagar (19 points, 7 rebounds) wrap up a historic youth national team run with solid performances all around and, most importantly, a win.

Korea’s Ku MingYo continues to shoulder the load his team and had 17 points on 8-10 shooting from the field to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

FIBA