BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN got their campaign underway yesterday in the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan with a resounding 89-85 victory over the Philippines in men’s five-on-five basketball.
The kingdom’s senior men’s national team put on a class performance in their Group C contest of the competition’s preliminary round, leading by as many as 16 points in the second half. That included an 87-73 advantage with just five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, before staving off a late rally from their rivals, who are the Asiad’s defending champions, to close out the win.
JaKarr Sampson led the way for the Bahrainis with a brilliant all-around effort of 24 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists, while Mustafa Hussain and Elijah Thomas contributed 20 points apiece. Hussain fired in four three-pointers for the nationals.
In attendance during the contest were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and other members of the kingdom’s delegation in Japan, including BOC executive director of operations and Bahrain’s chef de mission Ahmed Abdulghaffar. They met with the national team in the locker room after the game to congratulate them on their triumph.
Basketball is one of a number of sports that will see action before the official start of this year’s Asian Games on Saturday next week.
The Barhainis are one of 12 senior men’s squads in their tournament, which features some of the world’s powerhouse nations in basketball.
Also in Group C are China and Kazakhstan. The Chinese routed their Kazakh opponents 99-61 in their clash yesterday at the 15,000-capacity Aichi International Arena; while in Group A, South Korea crushed Indonesia 102-48 and hosts Japan edged past Saudi Arabia 86-80.
Group B in the preliminaries is composed of Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Iran, and Jordan.
Bahrain are back in action today as they face a mammoth task against China. The fixture is scheduled for a 10am tip-off, Bahrain time, at the same venue.
The Philippines take on Kazakhstan at 1pm in the other divisional affair, while in Group B, Chinese Taipei face Iran at 4am followed by Qatar taking on Jordan at 7am. All times are Bahrain.
At the end of this single round-robin, the top two teams from each pool, plus the two best third-placers, will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled for Wednesday.
The semi-finals will then take place on Friday, setting the stage for the gold and bronze medal games on Sunday next week – the day after the Asian Games official opening ceremony.
Bahrain had a strong start in their assignment yesterday against the Philippines, bursting out of the gate to take an 8-0 lead early in the first period. The Filipinos eventually got into their groove and closed the gap, but the Bahrainis took a 29-21 advantage into the second.
There, the Philippines fought back and managed to get within a point midway through before finally taking the lead, 43-41, on a Justine Baltazar basket with a minute-and-a-half to go before the break. The nationals finished strong, however, and back-to-back triples by Uros Ilic and Sampson – his, right before the half-time buzzer – put them 49-43 ahead.
Bahrain were then firmly in control after the re-start, powering in front by 16, 64-48, on an Ali Jaber effort, and they took a 76-61 cushion with them into the final frame.
The Bahrainis then appeared to be cruising to the finish line after a Sampson jumper made it 87-73 heading into the game’s home stretch, but the Filipinos made a furious charge. They held Bahrain to just two points the rest of the way – which was a shot by Sampson with three minutes still on the clock – and got as close as their final losing margin of four points. But it was too late for the Philippines and Bahrain escaped with the hard-earned victory.
Sampson and Hussain continued to be Bahrain’s one-two scoring punch, while Thomas gave them a welcome offensive boost and a strong presence on both ends in the paint. Jaber finished with seven points while Ahmed Alderazi and Mohammed Buallay chipped in with five apiece.
Calvin Oftana led the Philippines with a game-high 31 markers, including six three-pointers. Adrian Nocum added 14 and Baltazar had 10 in the loss.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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