Jordan vs Philippines

Jordan stormed out of the gates with former NBA guard Jalen Harris knocking down his first three three-point attempts in the opening quarter. The visitors led 28-14 after the first period and stretched the margin to 17 points — their largest lead of the night.

But the Philippines chipped away. CJ Perez, scoreless in the first half, ignited the comeback with 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Carl Tamayo's buzzer-beating three at the end of the third quarter cut Jordan's lead to 58-54, and the arena erupted.

The fourth quarter swung back and forth. Scottie Thompson drew a critical charge with under two minutes remaining, and AJ Edu's putback with 40 seconds left sent the game to overtime tied at 72-72.

In the extra period, Kevin Quiambao — one of four Filipinos to score 14 points — drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 11.7 seconds remaining to put the Philippines up 82-79. Freddy Ibrahim answered with a layup for Jordan to make it 82-81, and a five-second inbound violation by Thompson gave Jordan one last chance with the ball.

Olajuwon caught the inbound pass under the basket and rose for what looked like the game-winner. Sotto, the 7-foot-3 centre, met him at the rim and swatted the shot away, igniting a roar from the sellout Manila crowd.

Quarter scores: 14-28, 25-16 (39-44 HT), 15-14 (54-58), 18-14 (72-72 FT), 10-5 (82-81 OT).

CJ Perez's scoring eruption after halftime changed the game's geometry. He had zero points at the break and finished with 16, drawing fouls and finishing through contact in the paint. His driving layup with 2:11 left in regulation cut Jordan's lead to 70-69, the closest the Philippines had been since the opening minutes. From that moment, Jordan never led by more than three points again.

On the other end, the Philippines' defensive adjustment on Jalen Harris was decisive. Harris torched them for 9 first-quarter points on 3-of-3 from deep. Over the final three quarters and overtime, they held him to 10 points on 3-of-19 shooting. Harris finished 6-of-22 from the field — well below his Asian Qualifiers-leading average of 27.0 points per game entering the night.

Kai Sotto (Philippines) — Player of the Match: 18 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks. His double-double in his first national team appearance in two years was the backbone of the comeback. The game-sealing block on Olajuwon will be the lasting image, but his 7 offensive rebounds kept possessions alive throughout.

CJ Perez (Philippines): 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals. Fourteen of his 16 came after halftime, providing the scoring burst the Philippines lacked while Justin Brownlee watched from the sideline with injury.

Kevin Quiambao (Philippines): 14 points, including the clutch three-pointer in overtime that proved to be the game-winner. His composure as a 23-year-old in a high-pressure moment stood out.

Freddy Ibrahim (Jordan): 22 points on efficient shooting, leading all scorers. He kept Jordan afloat during the Philippines' third-quarter run but couldn't get the final stop.

Jalen Harris (Jordan): 19 points, but on 6-of-22 shooting. After a scorching first quarter (9 pts, 3/3 from three), Harris was a non-factor as the Philippines switched more aggressively on his pick-and-rolls.

Jordan shot 65% from three-point range in the first quarter (5-of-8) and just 23% (3-of-13) over the final 29 minutes including overtime. The Philippines dominated the offensive glass (14 offensive rebounds to Jordan's 7) and attempted 12 more field goals (71 to 59), a margin that compensated for their own 28% three-point shooting.

The Philippines (3-4) halved the gap to fourth-placed New Zealand (4-2) in Group E, with the top three teams advancing to the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar. Jordan (5-2) remain in podium position but missed a chance to strengthen their cushion. The Philippines host Iran on Sunday, 30 August, at the same venue. Jordan face Australia on 30 August.