Iran edges out Serbia in warm-up

Hamed Ehadadi (L) attempts a jump shot (Photo credit: CFP)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, July 23) -- Iran put away Serbia 72-70 in a closely contested game to snatch a second win on Wednesday, July 30, at the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament for Men in Nanjing, China.

On the previous day, Iran pressed defending Olympic champion Argentina hard before falling 71-81 in the curtain-raiser of the tournament.

Wednesday's game was evenly contested with the two sides tying several times and scores remaining close until Iran opened up a minor lead early in the final quarter.

The Serbians, however, refused to back away, closing the gap to just four points with 3:26 to play. Iran had to call a time-out to stem the tide.

Once play resumed, Serbia managed to make it 71-70 with less than half a minute remaining, but a foul handed Novica Veliclovic a free throw, extending Iran's lead to 72-70 before Serbia's Stefan Markovic missed a three-point buzzer-beating attempt.

Power forward Zoran Erceg had 14 points plus seven rebounds to lead Serbia, while Kosta Perovic weighed in with 10 points. Uros Tripkovic and Milos Vujanic contributed nine points apiece.

Compared to a balanced Serbia, Iran relied heavily on Hamed Ehadadi, who played 40 minutes, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. Javad Davari came just behind with 20 points and one offensive rebound. Hamed Afagh netted 14 points for Iran.

The Serbians might have fared better if they had made more shots from behind the arc: They buried only five of 25 three-point attempts (20%), compared to four in 12 (33%) for the Iranians.

Iran held off a determined Lebanon 74-69 at the FIBA Asia Championship in Japan to book a place at the Beijing Games. They will compete in group A, taking on defending Olympic champion Argentina and European powerhouses Lithuania and Russia, Oceanian champion Australian, and Croatia, who grabbed one of the last three spots for the Beijing Games on offer at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Athens.

Group B will witness clashes between host country China, World No. 1 the United States, reigning world champion Spain, African champion Angola, Germany and Greece, who qualified through the OQT in Athens.

Serbia will not go to Beijing, having finished in 14th place at the 2007 FIBA European Championship.