MARIBOR (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) - Puerto Rico edged Iran and Slovenia defeated New Zealand 73-67 on day two of the Alpos Cup in Maribor.

Iran center Hamed Ehadadi took his points haul to 17 with a basket that gave the FIBA Asian champions a 78-77 advantage with 1:30 remaining only for Puerto Rico’s seven-footer Peter John Ramos to reply with a bucket for a 79-78 lead 59 seconds from the end.

Mohammadsamad Nikkhah Bahrami put the Iranians back on top with two free throws only for Ramos to score again with a jumper for an 81-80 Puerto Rican advantage with 18 seconds remaining.

Ricky Sanchez then stole the ball from Mahdi Kamrany and Puerto Rico called timeout with eight seconds to go.

When play resumed, the Iranians fouled Sanchez and made both free throws for a three-point edge.

Iran still had six seconds to push the ball up the floor and Kamrany attempted a three-pointer but was off target.

Ramos finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Puerto Rico with the team again led by point guard Jose Barea, who scored 17.

Daniel Santiago poured in 15.

Ehadadi also had eight rebounds to go with his 17 points for Iran, who have already qualified for the Olympics.

The Puerto Ricans are preparing for next week’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.

Slovenia were pushed hard but overcome the Tall Blacks, who have now lost two straight after their upset of Canada in Toronto last Friday.

Ales Pipan’s team led by nine points going into the final quarter but New Zealand clawed their way back and trailed only 67-65 after Craig Bradshaw buried a three-pointer and two free throws.

Slovenia held on for the narrow win.

“It’s certainly a good result against a world class side like Slovenia,” Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said.

“They’re very good, they’re always in the top five to 10 teams the last few years and on their home court, it’s tough.

“We can’t ever be too happy with a loss but we did, at times, shut down a pretty good offensive team.”

The Slovenians got a captain’s performance from Rasho Nesterovic (23 points and 10 rebounds) while Kirk Penny scored 22 and Bradshaw 21 for the Kiwis.

New Zealand face Germany and Cape Verde in Group B of next week’s qualifying event while Slovenia take on Canada and Korea in Group C.

FIBA