HANGZHOU — Gilas Pilipinas dispatched Bahrain, 89-61, for a rousing start to its campaign in the 19th Asian Games.
The Filipinos poured it out in the second period when they outscored the opposition, 29-15, to take an 18-point lead with them at the break as Ange Kouame and Justine Brownlee took charge for the team.
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They never looked back, easing to the early lead in Pool C.
Bahrain kept it close in the opening quarter, but began to crumble when Brownlee and Kouame, both playing in the quadrennial meet for the first time, began to assert their might.
CJ Perez also came big with 15 points after finally being given the green light to play for the national team together with Kevin Alas, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross, and Arvin Tolentino.
Calvin Oftana, among the last cut in the Gilas roster during the recent FIBA World Cup, was the other player in double figures with 10.
The Philippines will take a break on Wednesday and then goes up against Southeast Asian rival Thailand the following day.
“We didn’t play Thailand in the Southeast Asian Games. But we saw them in the SEA Games, but we’re not matched up against them. They were knocked out by Cambodia,” said.
The Thais went down against Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jordan, 97-63.
The scores
Philippines (89) – Brownlee 20, Kouame 15, Perez 15, Oftana 10, Fajardo 8, Lassiter 8, Thompson 5, Newsome 3, Alas 2, Aguilar 2, Ross 1, Tolentino 0.
Bahrain (61) – Almoathin 14, Rashed MHA 13, Rashed AHA 12, Buallay 8, Melad 6, Chism 5, Hamoda 3, Al Haddad 0, Kadhem 0, Hasan 0, Al Hassan 0.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 51-33, 72-47, 89-61.
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