Gilas Youth loses to Bahrain for first time, bows out of Fiba U16 Asia Cup

September 5 ------ GILAS Pilipinas Youth lost to Bahrain, 79-66, and bowed out of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup 2025 on Thursday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The Philippines failed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in the tournament’s 16-year history as the youth team went 1-3 (win-loss) in its maiden continental tournament under new coach LA Tenorio.

By losing to Bahrain for the first time in the history of the tournament, Gilas Youth also fell way short of replicating its fourth-place finish in last year’s Asia Cup that earned it a berth in the FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup next year. Prior to this year, the Philippines’ lowest finish was seventh during the 2022 edition in Doha.

Gilas Youth continued to struggle from the field, making just 33 percent of its shots at 27-of-82 and 18 percent (6-of-33) from three-point territory. Jolo Pascual was Gilas Youth's lone double-digit scorer with 10 points. Jhustin Hallare added nine points, while Brian Orca and Everaigne Cruz chipped in eight apiece.

Mohamed Adel Abdulla led Bahrain in scoring with 22 points while also contributing five rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Hassan Oshobuge Abdulkadir contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds to make up for the absence of Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, who averaged 21.3 points and 16.0 rebounds during the group stage.

The scores:

Bahrain 79 – Abdulla 22, Ghuloom 15, Abdulkadir 15, Mohamed 15, Habib 7, Madan 3, Farhan 1, Abochi 1, Meshaei 0, Alhaddad 0.

Philippines 66 – J. Pascual 10, Hallare 9, Orca 8, Cruz 8, Lumague 7, Delos Reyes 6, T. Pascual 6, Carino 6, Cabanero 4, Restificar 2, Antolin 0.

Quarters: 22-21; 42-37; 62-50; 79-66.

Source: spin.ph