THE Iranian Under-16 team needed an additional five minutes before they subdued the shorter Chinese-Taipei, 93-81, at the start of the 2nd Nokia Pilipinas Youth Invitational Basketball Championships at the University of San Carlos (USC) Main Gym yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Nokia-Pilipinas squad was gunning for an opening-day victory against powerhouse Japan at presstime last night.

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It was a dramatic victory for Iranians who were trailing early before gaining momentary control nearing the end of the first period.

From an 18-9 deficit, Iran rallied behind the 13-2 run of Arman Zangeneh, Soheil Yousefi and Mohammadhassan Behzadi for a 22-20 lead.

Chinese-Taipei managed to regain the lead quickly behind the efforts of Ying-Chun Chen, 24-22, at the end of the first quarter and continued to keep their head above water in the second with the help of Kuan-chuan Chen.

Advantage

Iran’s height advantage and quick passing game started to dominate as they quickly jumped with a 7-0 run at the start of the third quarter to gain control of the game until the final 2 minutes of the regulation period.

But as Chinese-Taipei was about to crumble into pieces, Ying-Chun Chen’s triples and quickness gave the team another lease on life.

Tied at 79, Amir Sedighi towered for a twinner that gave Iran an 81-79 lead with 1:13 left to play.

However, Wei-ping Chun quickly tied the game and Chinese-Taipei made a huge stop at the other end, as they forced Sajjad Mashayekhi to commit a dribbling violation with 33.6 seconds left to play.

But Chinese-Taipei’s two attempts failed to hit the mark, forcing overtime.

Yousefi took charge for Iran in overtime as he scored the next seven points, while the defense of the West Asia Basketball Association powerhouse squad held Chinese-Taipei scoreless in the extra five minutes.

Yousefi scored the team high 24 points for Iran with Mashayekhi adding 16.

Ying-chun Chen scored the game high 31 points, Wei-ping Chung fired 19 and Kuan-chuan Chen scored 11 before fouling out in the final 1:51 mark in overtime period.