CHENZHOU (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - BC Astana survived a tough battle for third place, while Chooks-To-Go outlasted Mono Vampire to finish fifth at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017.

Playing for the last spot on the podium, both Petrochimi Iran and BC Astana left everything out on the floor in their battle for third place. The Iranians were looking for payback against the Kazakhs, who handed them their only loss in the group phase, but Astana proved to be the steadier team in crunch time to prevail, 81-78.

With Justin Carter shadowed by Petrochimi’s swarming defense, Anthony Clemmons took it upon himself to step up and lead Astana in scoring. Clemmons tossed in 22 points to go along with 5 assists for coach Konstantinos Flevarakis’s side, while Carter finished with 19 points on 5-of-11 field goal shooting. Veteran national team guard Rustam Yargaliev also did well with 11 points off the bench.

Petrochimi were able to use their size to outrebound BC Astana, 41-30, but their defense was just out of sync as the Kazakhs shot 49% from the floor. Behnam Yakhchali, who had struggled to find his rhythm all tournament long, finally found his range here, netting 18 points to lead five Iranians in scoring. Meisam Mirzaei and Arsalan Kazemi both recorded double-doubles and combined for 28 points and 21 boards. In a curious move, coach Mehran Shahintab did not play his two foreign players - Willie Warren and Mirza Begic - in this game.

In the day’s second match, Chooks-To-Go Philippines rode the herculean production of foreign player Isaiah Austin to book their fourth win in seven games, repeating over Mono Vampire Thailand, 89-79, to finish at fifth place.

Austin was a man on a mission in this game. The 2.16m center asserted himself in the paint, scoring a tournament-high 37 points on 15-of-22 field goal shooting, pulling down 15 rebounds, handing out 6 assists and rejecting 6 Thai shots. The naturalization candidate for the Philippines picked a helluva time to have a big game, too, as Chot Reyes’s squad was struggling. The rest of the team shot just 39% from the floor, and they actually had a flat start, trailing Mono Vampire, 28-22, after one quarter.

When push came to shove, though, the Filipinos’ innate talent came to the fore and enabled them to survive Mono Vampire’s efforts to mount a comeback. Kiefer Ravena scored 18 points, playing with nearly no relief, while Jett Manuel delivered 13 points in a rare start for Chooks-To-Go.

On the other end, Mike Singletary did his best to offset Austin’s production by notching 30 points and 12 boards, while Filipino-American playmaker Jason Brickman added 14 points and 6 assists. Promising young big man Teerawat Chanthachon also did well with a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double.

FIBA