Manila, Aug 12 (IANS): Iran proved to be too strong for hosts Philippines as the West Asian giants won the 27th Asian Basketball Championship 85-71 for their third continental title in six years.

Hamed Haddadi, who led the All Star team of the tournament, led Iran with 29 points and 16 rebounds on Sunday. He also earned the Most Valuable Player award, reports Xinhua.

Samad Nikkhah Bahrami finished with 19 points and seven assists. Mahdi Kamrany and Oshin Sahakian combined for 27 points. Sahakian also added 12 rebounds.

Philippines played the match missing their injured big man Marcus Douthit. Jayson William led the hosts with 18. But he and Alapag were the only two Philippine players who scored in double digits. Alapag took 13.

The runners-up finish is still Philippines' best result in the tournament in 28 years since they won the title in 1985.

With the silver medal, the Philippines nabbed one of the three slots for next year's FIBA World Cup in Spain.

The other two berths went to winners Iran and South Korea, who beat Chinese Taipei for third place.