Iran bounced back from a deflating loss to Australia in the semis, venting its ire on New Zealand to improve on a 5th-place finish from Jakarta in 2022 edition of the FIBA Asia Cup.
There is no better way to bounce back from a deflating loss than to cop a medal.
That was exactly what Iran did as it hacked out a 79-73 win over New Zealand for the FIBA Asia Cup bronze just a day after a heart-wrenching loss to Australia in the semifinals.
Team Melli raced off to a hot start before weathering a late uprising by the Tall Blacks to salvage a podium finish it failed to achieve in the 2022 edition of the continental meet in Jakarta.
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Seyed Jafari led all Iranian scorers with 22 points, including the crucial split in the dying seconds, to go with two rebounds and five assists.
Sina Vahedi came up with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Arsalan Kazemi churned out a double-double with 16 points and the same number of rebounds.
Matin Aghajanpour contributed 14 points, including a triple that gave Team Melli a comfortable 64-46 lead in the third period.
They entered the final frame with a 13-point advantage, 67-54.
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The Tall Blacks, as they did twice this competition, the last of which against Lebanon, summoned some fighting spirit and slowly crawled back from that hole.
Down by 62-74 at the 4:40 mark, the Kiwis went on an 11-2 run capped by a Flynn Cameron emphatic flush to threaten at 73-76 with 37.1 ticks left to play.
But Iran got the biggest break when Jordan Ngatai was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul for grabbing Jafari on a downhill drive in a full-court press.
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Jafari split his shots from the foul line, before Kazemi canned the two free throws that sealed the bronze for Team Melli.
Iran's last podium finish came in 2017 when it reached the finale of the competition, but faltered against the Boomers.
Cameron paced New Zealand with 18 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Mojave King had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Carlin Davison added nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal for the Tall Blacks.