Gilas’ Asian Games title defense starts with loss to Bahrain

FILE–Calvin Oftana was the lone bright spot for Gilas Pilipinas in its Asian Games 2026 men’s basketball opener vs Bahrain. -FIBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas’ defense of the men’s 5-on-5 basketball gold in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 got off to a rocky start on Friday with an 89-85 loss to Bahrain.

A rough stretch between the second and third quarters spelled doom for Gilas as it went down in defeat against a Bahraini side that had four naturalized players at Aichi International Arena.

Of those four, former Jakarr Simpson gave Gilas a world of trouble with his 24 points plus eight assists as Bahrain won its Group C encounter.

LIVE: Gilas Pilipinas vs Bahrain – Asian Games 2026 men’s basketball

Calvin Oftana fired a game-high 31 points as he served as the lone bright spot for Gilas despite being a last-minute inclusion following Justin Brownlee’s latest absence from the national team.

But Oftana couldn’t get consistent support from the rest, with Gilas struggling to get a consistent offensive game going while its defense couldn’t contain Sampson, Mustafa Rashed and big-bodied Elijah Thomas.

Rashed scored 20 points on 4-of-11 threes while Thomas also had 20 for Bahrain.

READ: Calvin Oftana, lone holdover from champion squad, joins Gilas in Japan

The loss put Gilas in a desperate situation, needing to beat Kazakhstan on Saturday to keep its hopes of making the quarterfinals as either the top-two finisher or one of the two best third-place finishers from the three groups. Kazakhstan lost 99-61 to China in the earlier game.

Adrian Nocum added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists before going down late with an ankle injury, while Justine Baltazar and Don Trollano added 10 and nine.

Gilas appeared to have shaken off a flat start and went up 43-41 on a Baltazar basket, only for Bahrain to score eight unanswered to go into the half leading 49-43.

From there, Bahrain stretched its lead further, scoring five in a row to open the third and never looked back, as Gilas struggled to close the gap.

It was only in the final minute that Gilas was able to cut the deficit to a respectable margin when Nocum scored on a layup before twisting his right ankle, Baltazar converted a basket, and Don Trollano hit a corner three with a few seconds to go.