Nambatac, ROS escape defending champion San Miguel

Rey Nambatac shrugged off his shooting struggles and delivered a clutch triple to give Rain or Shine (ROS) an 87-83 victory over the San Miguel Beermen in their PBA Philippine Cup opening game on Tuesday, October 13, at Angeles University Foundation.

Nambatac, who finished the game with a 1-of-7 clip from the field, drilled his lone field goal off a broken play to give ROS an 85-81 advantage with 12 seconds left on the clock.

“We got the win probably because Rey hit the big three-point shot to give us a four-point lead,” said ROS head coach Caloy Garcia.

The former Letran standout tallied 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 dimes, while Jayvee Mocon, who lifted ROS in the opening minutes of the game, put up 25 points and 6 rebounds.

Beau Belga added 12 points and 6 boards, and Kris Rosales scored 15 points off the bench. 

Mocon found his stroke early and scored 10 of the Elastopainters’ 16-0 start, but the Beermen shrugged off their cold opening and trimmed the lead to just 5, 25-20 at the end of the first quarter.

SMB used an 8-0 run fueled by Marcio Lassiter’s back-to-back treys and Russel Escoto’s putback basket to take their first lead of the game, 39-38.

ROS, though, relied on Belga and Rosales to regain a 46-41 lead at the end of the half.

Rain or Shine tightened its defense in the second half as Sidney Onwubere converted an and-1 play to extend their lead to 14, 65-51 late in the third.

The Beermen fought back in the final minute of the game and closed the gap, 82-81, as Mo Tautuaa and Terrence Romeo hit crucial treys before Nambatac’s dagger.

Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot scored 20 and 18 points apiece while Tautuaa posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Beermen, who now have a 1-1 card.

San Miguel got its first Philippine Cup victory against Magnolia, 94-78, on March 8, right before the conference was postponed due to the coronavirus.

ROS 87 – Mocon 25, Rosales 15, Belga 12, Borboran 9, Ponferrada 7, Onwubere 6, Nambatac 4, Torres 4, Norwood 3, Doliguez 2, Wong 0, Yap 0.

SMB 83 – Lassiter 20, Cabagnot 18, Tautuaa 17, Romeo 11, Gamalinda 5, Ross 4, Mamaril 3, Escoto 2, Santos 2, Pessumal 1, De Guzman 0, Zamar 0.

– Rappler.com