Back like he never left.
After missing significant time last season, Rey Nambatac showcased his brilliance anew as he helped the TNT Tropang 5G blast the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 93-78, in their PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup matchup Friday at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Rizal.
Nambatac, who missed a few months in last season’s All-Filipino Cup, finished with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists for TNT in 30 minutes of play.
The guard out of Letran said he was ‘very excited’ to play once again.
‘Parang four months mahigit yata akong hindi nakapaglaro e. So, siyempre, ito talaga yung pinaghahandaan ko,’ he told reporters after the game.
He bared that he was really out of shape, but thanked his teammates for stepping up.
‘Good thing naman, yung mga teammates ko, huge shout out to all my teammates kasi talagang pinush hard nila ako noong training camp namin. And to be honest, wala talaga ako. Out of shape ako Nahirapan ako noong una,’ he stated.
‘But then again, nagkaroon ako ng opportunity na makarecover. Makuha ko yung rhythm ko, yung timing ko. And ayun nga, ito, unti-unting nagbunga.’
After a close encounter in the first half, TNT started to pull away in the third quarter.
The Tropang 5G led by one, 45-44, early in the third frame before Nambatac scored seven points in his team’s 8-2 run as TNT grabbed a 54-46 lead.
While the Fuel Masters were able to pull themselves closer, the Tropang 5G’s hot offense was just too much to handle as they broke the game wide open in the fourth period. The latter took a 16-point lead, 81-65, after a split from Nambatac.
Ricci Rivero tried to will the Fuel Masters back into it, but a 3-pointer by Kelly Williams slammed the door shut on any comeback attempt.
Calvin Oftana backstopped Nambatac with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Simon Enciso and newcomer Kevin Ferrer had 12 markers apiece.
Tyler Tio and Jason Perkins powered Phoenix with 12 points apiece while Kai Ballungay added 11 markers for the Fuel Masters, who were held to 40.8% shooting and were forced to commit 14 turnovers.
‘There were stretches na masakit sa mata yung offense namin. But, as always, we relied on our defense. Okay lang if we’re not making our shots or if our offense is not as smooth as we want it to be, but as long as we can make stops, that’s the most important element of our gameplan,’ TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.
TNT will be back in action next Saturday against Converge, while Phoenix will return to play on October 22 against the NLEX Road Warriors.