Nambatac, Asistio wax hot late as Rain or Shine downs NLEX

Rey Nambatac and Anton Asistio, both coming off the bench, caught fire late to steer Rain or Shine to a 117-93 victory against NLEX in the PBA On Tour on Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Up by just three to start the payoff period, the Elasto Painters started pulling away after a triple from Asistio, 94-80. Nambatac then buried seven points to send Rain or Shine to a 104-96 cushion with exactly four minutes left to play.

Kris Rosales tried pumping life back to NLEX, but the Asistio-Nambatac duo was just too much for the Road Warriors as the former Letran guard fired another three-pointer to make it a 112-91 affair before Asistio put the finishing kick with a long bomb, 117-93.

Nambatac and Asistio both finished with 22 points with the former listing three rebounds and three assists while Jewel Ponferada chipped in 10 markers and five boards.

Santi Santillan flirted with a double-double with his nine-point, 10-rebound output.

Bong Galanza led the way for NLEX with a team-high 22 points alongside three rebounds while Rosales finished with 16 markers.

Earlier, Converge cruised to a 119-82 win over Terrafirma behind Justin Arana, who poured in a double-double effort of 24 points and 12 rebounds together with three assists and one steal.

Jerrick Balanza also registered 24 markers while Mike Nieto dropped 12 points and 12 rebounds in his first game with the FiberXers since getting traded from Rain or Shine last May 8.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News