Letran turns to Nambatac, Cruz in OT to survive San Sebastián

Rey Nambatac. Photo from Filoil Flying V Sports Facebook account.

MANILA, Philippines — Rey Nambatac and Mark Cruz uncorked timely treys in overtime and Letran survived San Sebastián, 96-94, Friday in the 2013 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at the Arena in San Juan.

The Knights went on a 10-2 run to seize the lead in extra time, highlighted by a go-ahead triple by Cruz with two minutes left and a corner three by Nambatac to put them ahead, 94-89.

But the Stags outworked Letran in the ensuing possessions to pull even at 94 with 33.8 seconds left, as Mark Tano and Jaymark Perez turned misses into four straight free throws.

Rookie Nambatac, though, calmly sank two free throws with 12 ticks left which secured the Knights their second win in three tries.

“Di na ako kinabahan kasi sanay na ako sa ganung sitwasyon nung high school pa lang (I did not get nervous because I am used to such situations when I was still in high school),” said Nambatac. “Tiwala lang kami (We just relied on trust).”

Head coach Caloy Garcia pointed out their lapses in the end, already leading by three towards the end of regulation and five late in OT but still needed clutch shots to survive.

“May lapses kami nung huli. Buti maganda sa mga players we try to develop our maturity. Kita naman may kulang pa kami sa end game, we turn the ball over and miss our free throws.”

The veteran in the squad, though, did not disappoint as Raymund Almazan continued his consistency from both ends of the floor.

Almazan finished with 27 points and 15 boards for Letran, while Cruz has 19. Three more others wound up in double digits.

Leo De Vera and Perez chipped in 20 points each for the Stags, who absorbed their third setback.

But San Sebastián remains a tough competitor, but just couldn’t close it against Letran.