Oftana shines but Gilas Pilipinas falls short vs Bahrain to open Asian Games title defense

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas’ title defense hit an early roadblock. The Philippines dropped its opening assignment in the Asian Games men’s basketball competition, absorbing an 89-85 loss to Bahrain at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on Friday, September 11. Last-minute inclusion Calvin Oftana shouldered the offensive load with 31 points on a 6-of-9 clip from three-point distance, but arguably his finest game in a national team uniform went down the drain as the Filipinos fell into a double-digit hole and came up short of their late comeback. Shaking off a slow start, the Philippines seized the lead for the first and only time at 43-41 on a Justine Baltazar bucket, before Bahrain — reinforced by multiple naturalized players — unleashed a 23-5 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to build its biggest lead of the game at 64-48.

Bahrain finished the second period on an 8-0 burst, capped by back-to-back triples from JaKarr Sampson and Uros Ilic, for a 49-43 halftime lead and never trailed the rest of the way, holding off every Gilas Pilipinas fightback. Sampson, a former NBA veteran who suited up for the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Pacers, dominated in the win with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists, while fellow naturalized player Elijah Thomas supplied 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Mustafa Rashed also delivered 20 points in the victory, knocking down 4 triples as Bahrain torched the Philippines with 12 three-pointers on an efficient 43% shooting. Adrian Nocum backstopped Oftana with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists before exiting the game with under two minutes left due to an apparent ankle injury. Nocum converted on a layup to cut the Philippines’ deficit to 80-89 but…