Team Philippines ended its campaign in the 31st William Jones Cup tournament on a disheartening note as it was crushed by Iran, the reigning FIBA-Asia men's champion, 60-85, Sunday in the last day of the tourney at the Hsinchuang gym in Taipei, Taiwan. Powerade-Team Pilipinas thus finished with a 2-6 win-loss slate in the nine-nation tournament, good for sixth place, way below the third place finish of the last Philippine team that saw action in the same tourney in 2007. The Filipinos are set to return home on Monday. The height and heft of the Iranians, led by 7-foot-3 Hamed Ehadadi, proved too much for the Filipinos to handle. Ehadadi, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA, finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The game was virtually over at halftime as Iran erected a 28-point lead, 51-23. Sunday's clash between Iran and the Philippines was the first since they tangled in the 2007 FIBA-Asia Men's Championship – an Olympic qualifying tournament – in Tokushima, Japan. Iran also beat the Philippines in that game, 75-69, eventually emerging as the champion. Iran's head coach Vaselin Matic said his team had little trouble disposing of the Philippines. “Game was very easy, no problem,” he said during the post-game interview. Matic took over from the post vacated by Rajko Toroman, who ironically is now the head coach of the Philippines' all-amateur Smart Gilas team honing itself for future international tournaments. The Philippines' head coach Yeng Guiao conceded that his team was badly beaten by Iran. “We had no solution to their height advantage, we just couldn't match up with their size,” he said. In an earlier match, Japan was downed by Taiwan-B, 97-91, after seven members of the team were downed by intestinal flu, forcing the Japanese to play with the minimum five players. Food poisoning also struck players from other teams, including Iran's Ehadadi who was brought to the hospital and was absent when host Taiwan upset Iran, 80-76, on Saturday. Lebanon routed Korea, 97-79, as Matt Freije unloaded 39 points and collared 11 rebounds. __
