JAKARTA—Only a few small mistakes stood between the Philippine national basketball team and a massive upset of China in the 2018 Asian Games, said center Poy Erram following their highly anticipated showdown on Tuesday.

The Philippines fell agonizingly short, bowing to China 82-80 after a pair of free throws from Zhao Rui with 13 seconds left. The close loss ruined an impressive debut by Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson, who had 28 points and sparked the Philippines’ comeback from a 12-point deficit.

“Sobrang malungkot dahil sa nangyari,” said Erram, who finished the game with six points — making both of his shots from distance — on top of three rebounds.

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“We’re there, sobrang close,” he added. “Small miscues lang.”

One of those small miscues was a botched layup by Erram inside the final two minutes, with the Philippines clinging to a 78-75 advantage. It was his lone attempt from inside the arc the whole game; the Blackwater center missed from almost point-blank range.

The Philippines still built an 80-77 lead with 1:23 left, but a late turnover by Stanley Pringle and a costly foul by Clarkson allowed China to push ahead. Paul Lee’s attempt at a game-winning triple was off the mark.

“No excuses,” said Erram. “We played hard, we played tough. Small miscues, that cost us the game.”

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The Philippines can hold their heads high after they pushed a favored China team to the limit. According to Erram, even they did not expect to play that well against the Asian powerhouse.

“Sa pinakita ng team, maganda,” he said. “Hindi namin in-expect na ganoon ang ilalaro namin, lalo na China 'yung kalaban, sobrang laki at saka mabibilis. Sobrang thankful kami kahit papaano na dikit 'yung laban.”

Erram and the rest of the team’s big men — Beau Belga, Christian Standhardinger, Asi Taulava, and Raymond Almazan — drew praise for how they battled against the Chinese bigs, particularly Zhou Qi who torched the Philippines for 25 points.

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They drew strength from Clarkson, who joined the team just five days ago but came through with a fine performance before succumbing to cramps down the stretch.

Even with the loss to China the Philippines is still through to the quarterfinals, where their traditional nemesis, Korea, will be waiting. The team had hoped to avoid the Koreans until much later in the competition, but will now have to overcome that obstacle if they want to have a chance at a medal.

“We move on,” said Erram. “We forget about this game, and we move on to the next game. We focus on the next game.”

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)