Beau Belga showed why he was one of the best big men in the league as he and Rey Nambatac played like a tag team on Tuesday evening.
Nambatac made Belga look so good twice with his passes as they propelled the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to an 85-82 overtime win over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings.
Nambatac’s rebounds off misses by Scottie Thompson and Stanley Pringle in the last 1:34 of extra time set up Belga for a putback and triple that helped propel the Elasto Painters to their fourth triumph in five outings.
The win kept the Elasto Painters behind the unbeaten TNT Tropang Giga in the leaderboard of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena in Angeles City, Pampanga.
“Where Beau goes, we go because he’s probably one of the best big men in the PBA,” said Elasto Painters’ coach Caloy Garcia in a Zoom post-game huddle.
Garcia added that it was team effort that carried the Elasto Painters to where they are right now, and that Nambatac was among those who contributed to this as well.
“Rey is a different kind of player. He’s gonna be the future of the PBA and be a superstar eventually. He’s in a position where one can have an opportunity to take a shot,” said Garcia.
Belga went on to finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The heavily guarded Pringle had 20 points, but was held to just two points in the extra period, with Nambatac and other teammates taking turns to watch him.
Pringle scored on a drive to bring Ginebra within 80-83,
This allowed Elasto Painters’ Mark Borboran to reach for the loose ball in the turnover and Jewel Ponferrada to unload a short jumper.
Ponferrada’s final shot gave Rain or Shine a five-point edge with only 5.3 seconds left.