TUN/IRI – Iran survive a furious Tunisian comeback attempt to claim first win in Group B

ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Iran survived a furious Tunisian comeback to claim their first win in Group B.

Leading 52-28 with 3:23 to go in the third quarter, Iran saw their lead cut to 56-52 with 6:25 left to play but held on for a 71-58 triumph.

Both sides went into the contest at Istanbul’s Abdi Ipekci Arena

Looking for their first win at the 2010 FIBA World Championship after two straight defeats.

Hamed Ehadadi scored 11 points of his game-high 23 as Iran stormed to a 31-15 lead midway through the second stanza.

Two consecutive threes from Tunisia saw them cut the deficit to 31-22 but Iran pulled away by outscoring their opponents 30-8 over the next seven minutes to take command, 52-28.

Never-say-die Tunisia stepped up their defense and limited Iran to just four points over the next nine minutes to cut the deficit to four but were not able to come all the way back.

Arsalan Kazemi then came to the rescue for Iran, pouring in eight of his 14 points in the last four minutes.
 
Quotes:

Iran head coach Veselin Matic: "It was very important for us to come here and win a game. We played at the Olympics and did not. But against Tunisia we started well. We have a problem when we get big leads but we called the time-out and made a change and won the game. I'm proud and I know the Iranian people are proud too."
 
Tunisia's Naim Dhifallah: "We had a bad start to the game but in the third quarter we had a great comeback. However, we spent so much energy that we had no strength left in the final four minutes."

FIBA