Rey Nambatac sustained his fiery scoring as Rain or Shine turned back Blackwater, 71-62, to gain a share of the early lead in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night, July 18 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Nambatac waxed hot with 21 points on top of 12 rebounds before Elasto Painters foiled the Bossing’s late comeback to join Meralco atop the standings with a 2-0 similar slate.
Meralco repulsed San Miguel’s comeback bid sparked by Terrence Romeo to eke out a 93-87 win.
Backcourt partners Aaron Black and Chris Newsome delivered the finishing blows as the Bolts kept the Beermen at bay shortly after Romeo suffered an injury for an early league lead with a 2-0 record.
The 27-year-old Nambatac was coming off a 19-point eruption in ROS’ 83-82 escape against NLEX on Friday.
Javee Mocon also racked up a double-double of 12 points and 12 boards while Norbert Torres tallied 13 markers and veteran Beau Belga put up an eight-point, 10-rebound effort.
More than their offense, head coach Chris Gavina lauded the Painters’ steady defense especially when the Bossing were threatening down the closing stretch.
“I truly feel that our defensive identity carried us tonight. It was a grind-it-out game,” said Gavina.
Meantime, the backcourt duo of Kevin Alas and Kiefer Ravena took charge as NLEX emphatically bounced back at the expense of reigning champion Barangay Ginebra, 94-75.
Alas and Ravena fired 20 and 19 points, respectively, to lead a balanced attack as the Road Warriors rebounded from a sorry 83-82 season-opening loss to Rain or Shine last Friday.
Don Trollano and Anthony Semerad scored 11 points apiece while JR Quiñahan chipped in 10 markers for the Yeng Guiao-coached squad which converted 12 three-pointers in the wire-to-wire win.
Guiao was glad with how the Road Warriors pounced on the Kings who looked lethargic early in their season debut.
“Actually I expected us to play decently pero di ko inaasahan na ganun kalaki yung lamang namin. We’re very luck that Ginebra is playing their first game, they’re still making adjustments… Mabuti medyo malamig pa sila ngayon,” said the respected 62-year-old mentor.
NLEX cruised to a searing 17-2 start thanks to Ravena, but Ginebra managed to trim the gap down to 35-41 at the half behind LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar.
Alas and Quiñahan joined forces to trigger the Road Warriors’ 19-8 run that handed them their biggest lead at 70-50 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Christian Standhardinger had eight points and 10 boards in his debut for Tim Cone’s side even as reigning Best Player of the Conference Stanley Pringle settled for eight markers with four turnovers.
The scores:
First Game
Meralco 93 – Newsome 17, Black 14, Hugnatan 13, Pinto 11, Quinto 9, Pasaol 7, Belo 7, Maliksi 7, Almazan 4, Hodge 4, Jackson 0
San Miguel 87 – Romeo 18, Tautuaa 17, Perez 17, Lassiter 11, Santos 8, Fajardo 5, Ross 5, Cabagnot 4, Gotladera 2, Pessumal 0,
Quarters : 18-25, 42-41, 74-59, 93-87
Second Game
NLEX 94 – Alas 20, Ravena 19, Semerad 11, Trollano 11, Quinahan 10, Cruz 9, Soyud 7, Miranda 5, Oftana 2, Porter 0, McAloney 0, Porter 0
Ginebra 75 – Aguilar 15, Tenorio 11, Thompson 12, Pringle 8, Standhardinger 8, Caperal 8, Chan 4, Devance 3, Ayaay 2, Tolentino 2, Enriquez 2, Dillinger 0
Quarters : 26-15, 41-35, 72-55,94-75
Third Game
Rain or Shine 71 – Nambatac 21, Torres 13, Mocon 12, Belga 8, Borboran 4, Santillan 4, Asistio 3, Norwood 2, Ponferada 2, Guinto 2, Wong 0, Tolentino 0
Blackwater 62 – Nabong 18, Daquioag 10, Enciso 7, Canaleta 6, Amer 6, Magat 4, Desiderio 4, Torralba 2, S Escoto 2, Paras 2, emerad 1, Tolomia 0, Desiderio 0
Quarters : 19-14, 35-24, 61-45, 71-62
