JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia — The dream of the Nokia U-16 Team Pilipinas of finishing in the podium for the first time in a long while ended in tears Friday after losing anew to Iran in overtime, 83-73, in Fiba Asia U-16 Men’s Championship at the Bandaraya Stadium here.

The Nationals had the golden chance to end their agony but Jeoffey Javillonar bungled what looked like an easy putback at crunch time, allowing the Iranians to escape with the win.

Visibly stung by that missed opportunity, the Nationals fell into poor shot selection in the extra period while allowing the Iranians to score 13 unanswered points to snatch the third-place trophy.

In the featured game, China lived up to its lofty billing by blowing past, Korea, 104-69, to win the title.

Both China and Korea are already assured of berths in the Fiba World U-17 Men’s Championship in Hamburg, Germany next year.

It was Team Pilipinas’ second heart-breaking loss to Iran since winning twice in the 2nd Nokia Invitational Cup in Cebu City recently. Iran tripped Team Pilipinas in the quarterfinals, 76-70, sending the Filipinos to an impossible mission of beating China in the semifinals.

The fourth place, however, is already a big achievement for the young and talented squad.

The Iranians rallied from a 61-67 deficit and tied the count at 70-all on a 9-3 run with 13.1 ticks left.

But to the horror of coach Erick Altamirano and the supporters of Team Pilipinas, Javillonar squandered a putback off a Kiefer Ravena miss.

“Imagine, we’re just one basket away from winning the bronze medal,” Altamirano said. “But it’s okay. I just wanted to win it for them. We are such a young team and I know that the kids will carry on this experience for the rest of their playing career.”

The scores:
Iran 83 – Soheil 18, Fattahi 17, Faghihparvar 16, Mashayekhi 13, Sedighi 12, Ojaghi 7, Abediaraei 0, Khademnamdari 0, Taherikoladooz 0, Monji 0, Behzadi 0, Zangeneh 0.
Philippines 73 – Ravena 18, Pessumal 13, Sara 11, Alolino 10, Teng 8, Javillonar 7, Ferrer 2, Pate 2, Tolomia 2, Bantayan 0, Romero 0.
Quarters: 12-15, 37-31, 56-53, 70-70, 83-73