FROM unscathed to a disappointing sixth.
Gilas Pilipinas Youth dropped a 72-89 loss to Iran last Sunday in their classification battle to wind up sixth in the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran.
Mohammad Amini barely missed a triple double with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists for the Iranians, while Matyar Ahmadpour had 19 markers, four boards, and four dimes.
Sarem Jafari also had 17 and six, while Parsa Ezati Manesh and Mohammadamin Khosravi combined for 22 points as Iran finished the tourney at fifth.
What began as a promising campaign to their stint ended in a whimper for the Josh Reyes-mentored Gilas Youth quintet, who were foiled in their bid to qualify for the Under-19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary next year.
The Philippine youth team, then known as Batang Gilas, ended up fourth in the same tourney in 2018 in Nonthaburi behind a team led by the likes of 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto and 6-foot-10 AJ Edu.
The young Filipino cagers completed a 3-0 sweep of Group C in the pool stage but lost two of its last three matches in the continental youth showpiece.
After taking a 43-30 lead at the half, Iran padded its edge to as much as 66-39 on a Mohammadbasir Momeni free throw at the 2:48 mark of the third quarter.
Iran still enjoyed a comfortable 66-46 advantage going into the payoff period and hardly met resistance from Gilas Youth.
Mason Amos paced Gilas Youth with 22 points spiked by six three-pointers, to go with five rebounds, while EJ Abadam added 18 markers, five caroms and three feeds.
Kyle Gamber also had nine points and four rebounds, while Seven Gagate contributed eight and three for Gilas Youth.
