The campaign of Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 Asian Games kicked off with an 89-61 victory against Bahrain on Tuesday, September 26, in Hangzhou, China.
CJ Perez and Ange Kouame both scored 15 points while Justin Brownlee added 14 points for the Philippines which went up by 34 points at most.
The Filipinos never felt threatened after a three-pointer by Justin Brownlee and a basket by Japeth Aguilar put them up by 12 points, 34-22, in the second quarter.
Going into the final period, Bahrain trailed, 72-47.
Maitham Almoathin finished with 14 points and Mustafa Rashed chipped in 13 to pace Bahrain in the first day of the men's 5-on-5 basketball tournament of the Hangzhou Games.
The Filipinos will seek to grab another win when they face Thailand on Thursday, September 28.
