Behind Nambatac, TNT fights back, repulses Meralco

Sports

THE TNT Tropang Giga rode on the heroics of Rey Nambatac to pull off a hard-fought 100-98 overtime win over the Meralco Bolts in the 50th PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night, Oct. 30, at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.

TNT trailed by as many as 23 points and was still down big at the half, 48-28. The Tropa chipped away at the deficit but still found themselves down by double-digit entering the final period, 64-74.

Nambatac then caught fire in the endgame, hitting back-to-back four-pointers that shoved the Tropa ahead, 90-87.

Chris Newsome kept Meralco alive by dropping a booming triple that forced a five-minute extension.

The two squads still went at it in the overtime period but Nambatac completed his heroics by sinking a jumper with 0.9 seconds left that gave the Tropa a 100-98 cushion.

The Bolts eventually fell when Cliff Hodge misfired a hurried three-pointer at the buzzer.

Nambatac wound up 22 points, powering the Tropa to their fourth win in five games to tie the NLEX Road Warriors at the No. 1 spot in the team standings.

It was Calvin Oftana who led the Tropa in scoring with 24 points while Ganuelas-Rosser, RR Pogoy, and Jio Jalalon also scored in double figures for a combined 38 points.

Newsome scored 24 points and Hodge had 21 markers in the Bolts’ fourth loss in seven games.

THE SCORES:

TNT (100) - Oftana 24, Nambatac 22, Rosser 14, Pogoy 14, Jalalon 10, Galinato 8, Khobuntin 4, Ferrer 4, Williams 0, Enciso 0, Aurin 0, Nieto 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.(CCM)