THE Nokia RP Youth squad repeated their earlier feat as they defeated the taller Islamic of Iran squad, 77-57, to win the Nokia Pilipinas 2nd Youth Invitational basketball Championship yesterday at the University of San Carlos gym.

Nokia RP opened up strong in the first half as it had a 20-1 run bridging the latter part of the first quarter and the early going of the second.

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Nokia RP finished the first half with a comfortable 41-21 lead.

Unlike in their previous 89-83 win the other day, the Filipinos showed consistency of offense and a first-class defense as they led in rest of the quarters.

Ace scorer Keifer Ravena, who was awarded as the tournament’s MVP, and big man Von Rolfe Pessumal carried the offensive load for Nokia RP squad as they scored 15 points apiece.

In the third quarter, IR Iran cut down the lead to 14 points with a 6-0 run in the middle of the quarter.

In the final quarter, Pessumal fueled the offense Nokia RP as he scored nine points to help RP Nokia outscore IR Iran 23-16.

In the waning minutes of the game, IR Iran got physical and they intentionally fouled the Nokia RP players hard.

Tempers flared in the last few seconds as Jeron Teng was pushed hard by Mohammad Ojaghi, the top scorer of IR Iran, who had 17 points. That incident almost ended in a fist fight.

Nokia RP coach Frederick Altamirano was ecstatic about the victory and was proud of his players.

“I’m very happy for the boys; this is their first tournament and it will be a great confidence builder going into the Fiba tournament in Malaysia,”Altamirano told Sun.Star Cebu.

Altamirano said that he’ll try his best to bring the Philippines a trophy in the upcoming Fiba-Asia Under-16 Championships later this month.