TOKUSHIMA, Japan -- Hamed Ehadadi scored 18 points and got eight rebounds to lead Iran to defeat defending champion China 77-68 here on Monday at the final match of the group round of the 2007 Asia men's basketball championship.
With the victory, Iran, who kept an unbeaten record, topped Group A, which was called "Group of Death".
Having the bench players for the first two quarters, Iran sent its main center Ehadadi at the start of the third and he changed the game totally.
He scored 18 points in 15 minutes and added eight rebounds, including four each offense and defense. The Chinese players could not stop him on the court but tried to prevent him from holding the ball.
As a result, Iran played a more fluent game than they had earlier and rallied to the final victory with a 10-0 run in the third quarter.
Bian Qiang scored 15 points for China, Chen Chen added 13 points while Yang Ming 11.
Iran will face Chinese Taipei on Tuesday in the quarter-final, while China will clash with Hong Kong, China in the play-off.