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| Calvin Oftana's explosive Gilas return was not enough for the team to escape the Bahrain upset. Peter Baltazar (file photo) |
MANILA—Gilas Pilipinas' late dash turned out to be a bit too late as Bahrain walked away with an 89-85 stunner in the Asian Games men's 5x5 basketball tournament on Friday at the IG Arena in Nagoya.
Down by 15 points after the third quarter, Gilas finished the game strong with a 7-0 run, but Bahrain's lead was just too big to overcome.
JaKarr Sampson and Elijah Thomas, two of Bahrain's four naturalized players listed for the Asian Games, led the way with 24 and 20 points, respectively.
Sampson, who made the most of a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls in 2019, flirted with a triple-double as he too had 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Mustafa Rashed was the top local for Bahrain with 20 points, two rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Calvin Oftana announced his return to Gilas with a 31-point explosion, going 11-for-19 from the field including 6-of-9 from deep, alongside two rebounds, one assist, and one steal, but his performance was not enough.
Gilas will now need to beat Kazakhstan on Saturday night if it wants to keep its quarterfinal hopes, but a possibility of playing without Adrian Nocum looms as he sprained his right ankle late in Gilas' loss.
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