Bahrain shocks Gilas Pilipinas in Asian Games opener

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Bahrain just handed the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team a harsh reality check.

In a bid to open their title defense on a high note, Gilas Pilipinas had to immediately return to the drawing board after dropping its first game against Bahrain, 89-85, in the 20th Asian Games at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2026.

The Filipino hoopers played catch-up for most of the game, quickly falling behind by double digits in the first five minutes of the first quarter as they struggled to defend Bahrain’s twin towers, JaKarr Sampson and Elijah Thomas.

Bahrain’s talented naturalized players imposed their will underneath, capitalizing on Gilas’ lack of frontcourt depth and international experience.

However, Gilas flipped the script midway through the second quarter behind Calvin Oftana, Justine Baltazar, and Adrian Nocum to retake the lead, 43-41, but Bahrain capped the period with a momentum-boosting 8-0 run for a 49-43 halftime advantage.

Unfortunately, that second-quarter run became Gilas’ only bright spot, as Bahrain kept inflicting damage and protected its lead until the final buzzer.

Bahrain leaned on a momentum-shifting 25-3 run to build its biggest lead of the game, 64-48, at the 5:31 mark of the third quarter.

Gilas failed to neutralize Bahrain’s high-low feeds to Thomas while also absorbing haymakers from Sampson, who dominated isolation plays with efficient size-ups on the perimeter.

Despite Gilas waking up offensively in the fourth quarter, Bahrain answered with timely 3-pointers every time its lead was cut to seven points.

Gilas desperately tried to inch closer for point-differential purposes, but time was not on its side as Bahrain comfortably held a nine-point cushion with only a minute left in regulation.

Still, Gilas showed it could go toe-to-toe without Justin Brownlee, with Oftana carrying the offensive load after exploding for a game-high 31 points.

The TNT Tropang 5G superstar and national team mainstay shot an efficient 6 of 9 from downtown, while Rain or Shine guard Adrian Nocum delivered 14 points in the losing effort.

On the other hand, Sampson, a former NBA player, led Bahrain’s charge with a team-high 24 points, backed by Thomas’ 20 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting.

Gilas will look to redeem itself and score its first win in the Asian Games today against Kazakhstan at 6 p.m.

Can the Filipinos bounce back and avoid a dismal 0-2 start in their title defense campaign?