Hurricane Huertas hits Iran, Puerto Rico snatch dramatic win
GUANGZHOU (China) - This game was over until it wasn't. Down double digits from four minutes into the game until there was just over three minutes left, Puerto Rico fought back to defeat Iran 83-81.
By the FIBA World Rankings where Puerto Rico is 16th and the Persians 27th, that seems right but Iran was bigger, better, and badder than Puerto Rico could handle through most the first match of Group C play.
Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi set the pace early, hitting 5 of 6 3-pointers in the first half to give Iran an 18-point margin at the half and it looked like they would ride that to the end.
Then a hurricane named David Huertas hit three triples in a 1:36 span to tie the game and give Puerto Rico the lead 81-78 before a Hamed Haddadi three drew Iran even at 81.
Javier Molica's pull-up jumper won it for the islanders with .7 on the clock.
Turning Point: Down by 18 at half and 14 after 3 periods, Puerto Rico, cut the margin to 9 with 3:27 left and just kept coming. Puerto Rico outscored Iran 14-3 in the final 2:10 to claim the win
TCL Player of the Game: David Huertas had been his team's best player throughout the game but what he did in the last two minutes will be legendary in the annals of Puerto Rico basketball. 32 points on 64.8 percent shooting, including 5 of 7 threes, along with 4 assists. He was stone cold when it counted
Stats Don't Lie: If you can't shoot, you can't win. After a miserable 32 percent field goal accuracy in the first half, Puerto Rico improved to 41.1 percent for the game.
Huertas was 5 of 7 from behind the arc. The rest of his team, 2 of 16.
Bottom Line: For Puerto Rico, this is a confidence booster and a valuable result before they face Spain in the next game. Iran will need to bounce back from a devastating loss against a tough Tunisia.
They Said: "I think it’s a group of resilient guys. They never quit. Everybody chipped in. We only led for one minute of the game but we never quit. We still found a way to get the game, that says a lot about this group." - Puerto Rico coach Eddie Casiano
"It was great fast basketball. We were not tired. We had turnovers from their full court press. We have two games left and we will try our best." - Iran center Hamed Haddadi
"They put us under pressure and hit some big three pointers. We will prepare well for our next game." - Iran coach Mehran Shahintab
FIBA
