FORGET Dominican Republic and its three-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns.

Forget Jordan Clarkson’s brilliant all-around game of 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists that went to naught when he fouled out at crunchtime.

Forget the record-breaking attendance highlighted by the presence of the country’s No. 1 sportsman, President Marcos.

Forget Sarah Geronimo’s awesome pre-game performance, along with the Dawn and Ben&Ben.

It’s time to think about Angola and its own NBA star in Bruno Fernando of the Atlanta Hawks.

After a memorable day of basketball that started with the announcement of a record-breaking attendance of 38, 515 fans and ended in a hard-fought 81-87 defeat to Dominican Republic, Angola comes next to the Filipinos’ minds.

Like the Filipinos, the Angolans suffered a 67-81 setback to world No. 10 Italy on the same day and the same venue.

Now, the Filipinos and the Black Antelopes clash in a no-tomorrow encounter at 8 p.m. Sunday.

The winner of Sunday’s death match will stay in the hunt for one of two Group A berths to the second round, while the loser will be relegated to the classification round.

Beating Angola is easier said than done, even for the Jordan Clarkson-led team which kept Dominican Republic on the ropes for most part of Friday’s contest.

Angola is best remembered by local fans for handing the June Mar Fajardo-led Filipinos a heartbreaking 81-84 defeat in overtime during the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.

“The Philippines is a very athletic team compared in the past. A lot of guys that can shoot, excellent shooters. They also have a beast in Clarkson that obviously is going to give a lot of 20-point games and all of these. He can shoot and he’s a scorer,” said Angola coach Pep Clarós during the introductory press conference at Smart Araneta Coliseum last Thursday.

After Angola, the Philippines concludes its group phase matches against Italy and its “Deadly Duo” of NBA star Simone Fontecchio and Stefano Tonut

Fontecchio, the 6-7 forward who plays for the Utah Jazz, and Tonut combined for 37 points as the Italians outworked the Angolans in the final three periods.

The Chot Reyes-mentored Philippines is actually hoping to finish as the top Asian country in the 32-team competition to earn the lone ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Philippines’ biggest rivals for the trip to Paris are China, Japan, Iran, Jordan and Lebanon.

Two of them also dropped their matches on Friday.

Japan was beaten by Germany, 63-81, in Okinawa; while Lebanon was manhandled by Latvia, 70-109, in Jakarta.

On Saturday, China will play its first match against Serbia at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Iran will make its debut against Brazil at the Jakarta Arena and Jordan will battle Greece at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Games Sunday:

(Araneta Coliseum)
4 p.m. — Italy vs. Dominican Republic
8 p.m. — Philippines vs. Angola