FIBA U16 Asia Cup WABA qualifiers:
Iran suffers final defeat against Lebanon
Iran settled for a runner-up finish at the FIBA U16 Asia Cup West Asian qualifiers after an 88-80 against Lebanon in Thursday’s final in Amman, Jordan.
Johnny Sawma chipped in a game-high 33 points, as Lebanon celebrated a second win against Iran in the Jordanian capital, having come out victorious by an 84-70 scoreline when the two teams met in their opening game in Group A of the qualifiers.
Mauricio Abboud contributed a double-double for Lebanon with 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Charbel El Herera (18 points) and Amin Nahle (12) also finished in double figures.
Alireza Rashidi was the Iranian top scorer on Thursday with 30 points, followed by Mohammad-Safa Behnia (15), Mohammad-Saleh Pakgohar (14), with Amirreza Azari registering a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
A place in the final showpiece had already booked a spot for the two sides at the 2025 FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Iran bounced back from the first-day loss to Lebanon to beat Syria 86-81, before Bardia Khosravi delivered an MVP performance with 19 points and 11 rebounds to help Iran come out victorious (96-88) against Jordan on Tuesday and advance to the final.