MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter before weathering a furious charge by the Iranian national team in the endgame for an 81-70 victory in their tuneup match Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Iran cut the Philippines' lead to just two, 72-70, late in the fourth quarter. But the Filipinos, led by naturalized player Andray Blatche, regained their composure in the nick of time to turn back an Iranian team that was without their star center Hamed Haddadi. Blatche paced Gilas with game-highs 20 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan Reyes, Terrence Romeo and Japeth Aguilar added 12 points apiece. The Gilas squad leaves for Greece Friday for a three-week training camp in Europe as part of its Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament buildup. Reyes nailed four of his five shots and was the revelation of the night for Gilas that played minus some of its top gunners including Marcio Lassiter and Jeff Chan, both of whom were still nursing injuries. Three top players—Greg Slaughter, Paul Lee and Matt Ganuelas Rosser—had already been cut from the team also due to injuries. The Filipinos raced to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter with Aguilar waxing hot, scoring 10 points in the first quarter alone to spearhead an 18-3 blast for an a 29-15 advantage going into the second quarter. Gilas padded its lead to 20 points, 43-23, before the long-range gunners of Iran started hitting their target. Three straight triples sparked an 11-0 run by the Iranians, cutting Gilas' lead to nine, 43-34, before the Filipinos settled for a 48-38 halftime advantage. Gilas had its biggest lead at 23, 67-44, in the third quarter. But the Iranians refused to be blown away as they unleashed a zone defense that shackled Gilas' three-point gunners. The fourth quarter saw the Iranians uncorking a 20-5 run to cut Gilas' lead to 72-70, with still 2:59 left. But LA Tenorio sank a tough floater followed by a Blatche three-point play to raise Gilas' lead to seven, 77-70, with 2:10 left. A block by Blatche, free throws by NBA D-League player Ray Parks, and a layup by Romeo sealed the victory for Gilas. Gilas Pilipinas also defeated Iran, 71-64, Tuesday during a close-door scrimmage.
