The Iranian men’s national junior basketball team has slumped to South Korea at its fourth fixture of the preliminary round of the 2016 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship.

The Iranian outfit conceded a narrow three-point defeat to the East Asian powerhouse in a Group B match staged at Azadi Sports Complex, western Tehran, on Tuesday evening.

The young Iranian basketball players started the game in a rather disorganized fashion. They, however, managed to establish themselves as the time passed and drew the score level 12 at the end of the first quarter.

The Persians continued to earn points after the interval, and were off to a 25-12 lead by the end of the first half.

The South Korean athletes, seeing themselves not distant from a bitter defeat, put right their mistakes in the third quarter to bring the game under control.

The Iranian team kept cracking unsuccessful three-point shots and simply losing the possession of the ball later on, enhancing the opposite side’s chances to increase the deficit and clinch the third quarter 36-21.

Even though Iranian fans were fervently cheering for their team, the hosts failed to reverse the course and went down to the South Korean team 83-86 at last.

Iran is slated to take on Lebanon on Wednesday evening.

The 2016 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship, which marks the 24th edition of the continental sports event, started in the Iranian capital on July 22 and will run through July 31.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is drawn in Group B of the preliminary round of the sports event, and has joined Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and South Korea.

Group A consists of China, Chinese Taipei, India, Iraq, the Philippines and Thailand.

The teams placed first, second, third and fourth in each group will qualify directly for the quarterfinals.