New recruit Nambatac carries Letran to win over SWU

Rey Nambatac tries to stop an opponent. Photo from Filoil Flying V Sports Facebook account.

MANILA, Philippines — Letran fended off a late run by Cebu’s Southwestern University with new recruit Rey Nambatac leading the charge, 78-68, Friday in the 2013 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premiere Cup at the Arena in San Juan.

Nambatac, along with veterans Raymond Almazan and Mark Cruz, fired away for a pivotal 8-2 run which put the Knights safely ahead, 73-63, with under four minutes to play.

The former Letran Squire led his new squad with a team-best 16 points, along with two rebounds, an assist and four steals.

Head coach Caloy Garcia, who is also settling in his new role for the Knights, though, admitted that Nambatac still needs a lot of polishing.

“He still needs to improve on the other aspects of the game,’’ Garcia said, adding Nambatac has natural talent for the game and has the drive but still needs to be consistent with his shooting.

Nambatac missed all his four attempts from the outside, but Mcjour Luib and Cruz made up for it with three triples each for the Knights.

Liub added 13 points while Cruz and Almazan had 11 each — all three carrying Letran down the stretch.

The Knights nabbed their first win of the tournament while the visiting Cobras dropped their fifth assignment with just a lone victory.

But the Cobras, finally settling down after getting hammered early in the tournament, leaned on Cameroonian Landy Sanjo who scored eight points in the fourth period to come within a bucket 61-63 with 5:39 to play.

The Cobras have one more Manila assignment before they fly back to Cebu.

The Scores:

LETRAN 78 – Nambatac 16, Luib 13, Cruz 11, Almazan 11, Tambeling 10, Publico 5, Belorio 5, Gabawan 4, Ruaya 3, Buenaflor 0, Pantin 0, Almario 0, Castro 0, Oluto 0.

SWU 68 – Sanjo 17, Arong 16, Ortega 8, Otida 6, Bautista 6, Bregondo 4, Siewe 4, Holper 3, Mohammed 2, Panerio 2, Goloran 0.

Quarters: 18-8, 39-26, 56-53, 78-68