Rey Nambatac handed out a harsh lesson to Meralco by exploiting the lapses he saw, which led to a great escape for TNT on Wednesday.
The star guard left many awestruck when he nailed a cold-blooded four-pointer to help the Tropang 5G eventually upend the Bolts to reach the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup Finals, but all that was simply a product of guts and wits.
“‘Yung last play na ‘yun, para kay Jordan ‘yun eh,” he said after their 99-96 win at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. “We’re just going for the four points talaga.”
Nambatac was referring to his backcourt partner in Jordan Heading, but he instead landed the heavy blow following a good read of the situation.
Meralco had been holding on to a 96-91 lead with 27.9 seconds remaining in the game. The lefty guard admitted that he was expecting their foes to commit a foul, which would stop the clock and send him to the line for two.
It would be smarter to make an opponent earn points from the foul line instead of scoring from beyond the arcs. However, Coach Luigi Trillo’s charges curiously did not commit a foul but instead focused on defending.
“‘Yung small mistake na nakita ko, hindi nila ako finoul right away. Kasi lamang sila by five points eh,” Nambatac recalled of that particular moment.
“That was supposed to be a quick foul na, knowing na… Siyempre, alam naman nila na kaya ko rin tumira ng four points,” added the deadshot out of Letran.
“But ‘yung small mistake na ‘yun, ginrab ko ‘yung opportunity na ‘yun.”
The Bolts were able to deny Heading, but that only reinforced Nambatac’s assertiveness to take the gutsy shot from 27 feet against Anjo Caram.
(C) PBA Images
“Nakita ko kasi na denied na si Jordan sa corner eh. So sabi ko take it or leave it,” he said. “At least, good line. Nasa tamang line naman ako ng four points.”
He swished it in, and Heading also earned his own moment shortly after when he stole the ball away from counterpart CJ Cansino for the go-ahead bucket to give them the 97-96 lead with only 15.1 seconds remaining.
Nambatac would go on to stretch their lead to three for the eventual scoreline, before Calvin Oftana controversially stopped the rising Meralco star to seal the victory.
“Thank God, thank you Lord, kasi alam mo yon, patay na nabuhay pa kami.
“Classic game talaga. Ganda ng laban,” he said.
The 31-year-old finished with 25 points, four rebounds, and four assists in the miraculous triumph. And that commendable showing was thanks to his rest and recovery after seeing limited action back in Game 4 last Sunday.
Nambatac suffered a sprained ankle back in the third game of the best-of-7 affair, prompting the brain trust to use him for just under three minutes in their eventual 102-83 victory at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“Sobrang laking bagay na nakapag-pahinga ako last game. Hindi na ako pinilit ni Coach kasi nga galing ako sa injury, sprained ankle nga,” he said.
“Sakto rin na meron kaming two days preparation. So yung two days na yun, ginawa ko lang siyang recovery hanggang sa naka-recover ako.
“Credit to our PTs kasi sila talaga yung tumutok sa akin. Even kahit nasa bahay ako, china-chat pa rin nila ako, sinesend pa rin nila ‘yung dapat kong gawin. Ito ‘yung naging outcome ngayon, na nakapaglaro ako ng maayos,” he continued.
Thanks to another clutch shot, Nambatac and TNT are heading for a fourth straight Finals appearance, leaving the Cagayan de Oro-native immensely thankful as he’s received more than what he had prayed for.
“Bawing-bawi ‘yung eight years ko,” the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 draft said with a laugh. “Sobrang blessed kasi finally, kay tagal kong inantay ‘to. Ang tagal kong pinagdasal ‘to na sana makaabot ako sa Finals, makapag-champion.
“Ang hiling ko lang kay Lord, makapag-champion ako, pero ito binigyan Niya ako ng four straight Finals appearances. Thankful ako.”
#WATCH: CLASSIC GAME 🏀
Rey Nambatac looks back on his big four-point shot that helped TNT clinch the #PBA50 Finals berth#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/V2TYTORMFn
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/IMwvXea24Z
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 14, 2026
