ANTIPOLO – Rey Nambatac sustained his heroics in extra session as TNT completed a furious fightback against Meralco to claim a 100-98 decision and a piece of the lead in the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup on Wednesday night.
The unflappable playmaker drained the go-ahead pull-up jumper with seven-tenths of a second left in overtime, a fitting follow-up to his crucial four-pointers late in regulation as the Tropang 5G climbed out of a deep 23-point hole to the thrill of the crowd at the Ynares Center.
TNT stretched its winning streak to three games to improve to 4-1 in a tie with the day’s earlier winner in NLEX.
READ NLEX the unlikely solo PBA leader after cruising past Blackwater
The Bolts, on the other hand, suffered back-to-back losses to fall to 3-4 and into seventh spot.
Meralco, though, initially looked like it was going to get back on the winning track as it came out of the gates firing and established a 46-23 lead in the second quarter.
Then the real Tropang 5G showed up after intermission.
“We were not able to match their intensity in the first half, so I asked them a simple question at halftime: 'How much do you want this? How badly do you want this?'” TNT coach Chot Reyes said in the postgame press conference.
“And nothing more needed to be said. The players responded,” he added as the Tropang 5G shrugged off the absence of Jordan Heading who was a late scratch due to a bacterial infection.
TNT closed the gap behind Nambatac, who hit three of his five four-pointers, including one that pulled them to within a point, 84-85, and the last one that gave the Tropang 5G a taste of the lead at 90-87 with a minute and four seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Chris Newsome retaliated by burying a trey with 17.6 seconds left to send the game into overtime where a see-saw game ensued.
Henry Galinato’s putback that knotted the count at 98 with 58 seconds left set the stage for Nambatac, who drove to the left into a hop step, then launched a jumper over Chris Banchero that found the bottom of the net with less than a second remaining.
Nambatac finished with 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field, four boards, two assists, one steal, and one block to form a one-two punch with Calvin Oftana, who led the team with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, five rebounds, four steals, and one assist.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Roger Pogoy added 14 points apiece, while Jio Jalalon also provided a spark on defense with three steals on top of 10 points, three assists, and one rebound.
The result overshadowed Newsome own heroics as he finished with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, six assists, five boards, and three steals in 39 minutes.
The scores:
TNT 100 – Oftana 24, Nambatac 22, Ganuelas-Rosser 14, Pogoy 14, Jalalon 10, Galinato 8, Khobuntin 4, Ferrer 4, Williams 0, Nieto 0, Aurin 0, Enciso 0
MERALCO 98 – Newsome 24, Hodge 21, Black 14, Banchero 12, Cansino 8, Quinto 6, Maliksi 5, Almazan 4, Bates 2, Comia 2, Pascual 0
Quarterscores: 13-21, 28-48, 64-74, 90-90, 100-98
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
