BASKETBALL/Taiwan's FIBA Asia Cup journey ends after Iran completes 21-point comeback

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's men's national basketball team on Wednesday suffered a heartbreaking loss, ending its FIBA Asia Cup run after Iran staged a dramatic comeback to secure a 78-75 victory in the quarterfinals at King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia.

The national squad, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, led by 21 points at one point and stayed ahead for 38 minutes and 30 seconds of the 40-minute game.

Iran only took the lead in the final minute, but it was enough to knock Team Taiwan out of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

With the win, Iran advances to Saturday's semifinals, where it will face Australia.

The loss ended a promising campaign for Team Taiwan, which had been aiming for its first semifinal appearance since the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup, when it also fell to Iran, 79-60, in the semifinals.

"We shot better, but we still lost the game. This is basketball," Taiwan's coach Gianluca Tucci said at the post-game press conference.

"We didn't overcome the last issues of the game. Maybe we deserved to win, but this is basketball. But I am still proud of every single player, every single member of our staff, of our federation," he said.

Team Taiwan's captain Liu Cheng (劉錚) thanked Iran for providing such a high-pressure game, saying it would be a valuable experience for Taiwan's basketball program despite the loss.

"We will do better when facing a similar situation in the future," he said.

Taiwan opened Wednesday's game with a promising 10-0 run and held a commanding 42-26 halftime advantage.

In the second half, however, Iran began its comeback after Taiwan's naturalized center Brandon Gilbeck was forced to sit on the bench due to foul trouble less than two minutes into the third quarter.

Shooting guard Lin Ting-chien (林庭謙), who led the team with 22 points, managed to keep the squad comfortably ahead 64-52 heading into the fourth, after making a triple with three seconds left in the third.

Iran opened the fourth quarter with a stunning 17-5 run, tying the game for the first time at 69-69 with three minutes remaining.

Taiwan's Adam Hinton and Iran's Arman Zangeneh then traded threes before Amini's free-throw with 41 seconds left, giving Iran their first lead of the night at 75-74.

Amini followed up with an easy layup to extend the lead to 78-75 with 14 seconds remaining.

Taiwan still had a chance to force overtime, but Lin missed a potential game-tying three in the team's final possession.

Amini finished with an MVP performance: 30 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and one block.

"At halftime, we had a long talk, and we changed the approach," Iran coach Sotirios Alex Manolopoulos said at the post-game presser.

"We knew we will get our shots, and this time, we will make out shots. For the second half, we played to our maximum," he added.