Rey Nambatac has overcome jitters in his very first game in a championship series and even led the TNT Tropang Giga to victory over Barangay Ginebra, 104-88, in Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals who was witnessed by 11,021 spectators at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.Nambatac was named Best Player of the Game after putting up 18 points (12 in the final quarter), 10 rebounds and seven assists in his first Finals appearance.

The winningest coach in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association has entered the Finals once again and will try to win his 26th title while leading Ginebra to the Promised Land.In an exclusive interview with Scoreline.ph, Coach Tim Cone shared how he established a winning culture to every team that he handled.

Hundreds of imports have donned the colors of the second-oldest professional basketball league in the world. Still, one player has made a significant mark that stretches beyond just being a team’s reinforcement.Justin Brownlee already established his legacy in the league, capturing the hearts of Filipino basketball enthusiasts with his versatility as a scorer and delivering standout performances every time he suited up for the Philippines.  Brownlee’s countless accolades and years of brilliance have solidified his name in the game. The Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player has displayed no signs of slowing down his gears as he is just one title away from becoming the winningest import in the league. Brownlee is expected to essay another blood-pumping performance as he and the Gin Kings seek to subdue the defending champions of last year’s conference with flying colors.His age was also never a hindrance to keeping his engines running and expanding his plum collection.

The first-ever father and son duo happened on the opening night of the NBA's 2024-25 Season when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-103, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.The historical feat happened in the latter part of the first period when LeBron and Bronny James were fielded in together. They shared the court for more than two minutes.According to LeBron, family is the reason why he wanted to play together with his son in the league.

Defending champions Boston Celtics tied the most number of three-pointers made by a team in their victory over the New York Knicks, 132-109, in the opening night of the NBA’s 2024-2025 Season.Before the game started, the Celtics received their championship rings and the 18th banner of the franchise was raised in the rafters.Jayson Tatum grabbed the microphone before the ceremony to pump-up the crowd inside the TD Garden in Boston.

Fresh faces Joshua Retamar and JM Ronquillo made a superb debut as they steered Cignal HD Spikers to victory in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna on Tuesday, October 22.The reigning Open Conference champions launched their campaign by cruising past Chichi DHTSI in straight sets, 25-16, 25-16, 25-14. The HD Spikers bagged a swift one-hour, 11 minute win over the Titans with former National University standout Retamar, who only played in the first two sets, set the tone by tossing 10 excellent sets, while ex-De La Salle University ace Ronquillo tallied nine points on five attacks, two blocks, and two aces.  

Cebuano para triathlete Alex Silverio waved the Philippine flag on the international stage after his silver medal finish in the PTS4 Men Classification at the 2024 Asia Triathlon Para Cup Chiba in Japan on Saturday, October 19.The 34-year-old left arm amputee claimed a podium finish after completing the 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run course with a remarkable time of 1:16:07. Silverio crossed the finish line just six minutes behind Japanese Keiya Kaneko, who bagged the gold with a time of 1:06:27, while Kaneko’s compatriot Chikara Ara clinched the bronze medal after clocking in 1:17:09. 

It will be a battle between pals who have been successful in their coaching career in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals.Coaches Tim Cone and Chot Reyes will face each other again after 12 years since they last battled one another. The two mentors met in the PBA Finals six times already but the last time was way back in 2012 when the B-Meg Llamados of Cone defeated Reyes’ Talk N’ Text, 90-84, in overtime of the Game 7 of Commissioner’s Cup finale.A win in the upcoming series will give one of the coaches an advantage as they split their head-to-head encounter at 3-3.Cone is happy that his team is in the Finals again and it will be against his good friend Reyes that he will battle again. Coach Chot was Coach Tim’s chief deputy when they were still starting together in Alaska.

Rain or Shine might be in a 1-3 hole right now in their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semifinals series against the defending champion TNT Tropang Giga but they will not go down without a fight.The Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guao said that they still feel good about their chances in their match-up and their perspective is still positive.

Fourteen Filipino trail runners are set to make their presence felt when they compete against the best runners in Asia in the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships in Ulju, South Korea slated October 23 to 27. The two-time Southeast Asian Games women’s marathon gold medalist and five-time Milo Marathon queen Christabel Martes mentored the Philippine Trail Running National Team and guided the team in their extensive training in Baguio City.John Ray Onifa and Elizabeth Dangadang will banner the Filipino runners in the first edition of this prestigious continental meet where they will get to test their mettle against the best runners coming from China, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Japan B.League squad, Ryukyu Golden Kings survive Meralco’s power surge to get their first win in the East Asia Super League (EASL), 77-74, Wednesday night, October 16, at the Okinawa Arena, Japan.The runner-up of last year’s B.League weathered the storm that the Bolts made in the final 2:50 minutes of play.Meralco came back from a 66-77 deficit through an 8-0 run to cut down the lead to only three points with 41.7 seconds remaining.Allen Durham, who’s playing against his former team for the first time, had a chance to force the game into overtime but his attempt was swatted by Ryukyu import Victor Law.Durham finished the game with 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while his fellow Bolts reinforcement DJ Kennedy produced 30 markers and 12 boards.Chris Newsome led the local unit with 18.The winning team relied on the heroics of Law, who contributed a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.Jack Cooley, the Golden Kings other import, also got 18 markers along with seven boards, while naturalized player Alex Kirk put up 12.Ryukyu now topped Group B with a 1-0 record, while Meralco split their games to have a 1-1 team standing.The next game assignment for the Bolts will be the Busan KCC Egis of the Korean Basketball League whom they will face on November 13 at the Philsports Arena.

San Miguel’s teamwork made wonders for the Beermen as they defeated Ginebra, 131-121, last night, October 16, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum to tie their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semifinals series.The eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo led the pack with his 29 points, 16 rebounds and three assists performance.SMB import EJ Anosike supplemented him with 27 markers, while CJ Perez added 20. Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano contributed 15 points each to help the Beermen’s campaign.Coach Jorge Gallent said that he was happy that his players responded to his call of playing hard, putting more effort and bringing a lot of energy in order for them to win the game.

TNT narrowly defeated Rain or Shine, 81-79, to have a commanding 3-1 lead in their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semi-finals series.Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the final basket of the game with a slam dunk with 37.3 seconds remaining on the game clock.Hollis-Jefferson also led TNT with his 23 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, five steals, and five blocks.

University of Santo Tomas in their domination against the University of the Philippines, 84-57, in the second round of their UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon, October 14, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.The Growling Tigresses now have a 7-1 record bolstered by their fourth straight win led by their veteran guard Tacky Tacatac who finished with a game-high 23 points.

National University Lady Bulldogs prevail over Ateneo Lady Blue Eagles, 82-62, to make their perfect winning record intact in the second round of the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday, October 13, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.The 20-point outburst of NU was led by rookie Cielo Pagdulagan who contributed with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and five steals, including a +27 rating coming off the bench. She also didn’t commit a single turnover.NU head coach Aris Dimaunhan said that the one week break that they have between the first and second round helped them prepare for this particular game as they had been given a lot of time to process and lay down their game plan.The Lady Bulldogs also capitalized the absence of Ateneo’s leading player Junzie Calago, who fouled early in the third period where they also erected their largest lead at 56-34.Aloha Betanio and May Canuto also scored 11 markers each to supplement the game of their prized-rookie Pagdulagan.On the other hand, Kacey Dela Rosa led Ateneo with her eight consecutive double-doubles by producing 22 points and 17 boards.NU will put their unblemished record on the line once again on October 20 when they face the UP Fighting Maroons at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion, while the Blue Eagles will try to end their two-game losing skid against the reigning Season 86 champions UST Growling Tigresses at their own turf on October 19.

The Philippine Men’s National Football Team earned a podium finish in the 2024 King’s Cup after defeating Tajikistan, 3-0, on Monday, October 14, at the Tinsulanonda Stadium in Songkhla, Thailand.Gerrit Holtmann (47') placed the nation on the scoreboard after the first half ended without a goal. Jefferson Tabinas (58') immediately followed with a 54th minute header from a corner, and Zico Bailey's goal in the 62nd minute sealed the victory for the Nationals, making it a 3-to-love score.The triumph marks the Philippines’ first podium place in the competition and their first win under Albert Capellas since he took over as head coach of the men’s national football team.

Filipino Olympic boxer Hergie Bacyadan dominated the women’s K1 -70kg category in the Asian Kickboxing Championships in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Saturday, October 12.Bacyadan’s frustrated attempt to clinch a medal in the women’s boxing tournament of the 2024 Paris Olympics only strengthened her to pursue glory in other combat sports. The 29-year-old Kalinga fighter delivered one of the Philippines’ four gold medals in the event, overwhelming her opponent Chinese Jinwei Teng via abandonment. Bacyadan’s triumph in the continental kickboxing championships earned her a spot in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China.“Everybody wants to be there in the World Games and I’m glad that I’ve qualified,’’ said Bacyadan.

“They call us the Mighty Beermen, but they are the Kings.”A statement from San Miguel Beermen assistant coach Peter Martin that resonated truth and lament as Justin Brownlee once again essayed another one for the books with his 5-of-6 four-pointer that propelled Barangay Ginebra to secure an impressive 122-105 victory in the best-of-seven series opener of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup on Wednesday, October 9.In a special interview conducted by Scoreline.ph, the Beermen were able to share their sentiments regarding game play assessments and essential adjustments they have to produce in order to deliver a comeback blow against Ginebra’s offensive strategy.Despite June Mar Fajardo and import EJ Anosike fueling the Beermen’s offensive pace, forward Jeron Teng expressed that Ginebra did a pretty good job at scouting them and learning their strategy.“They really had a great game plan against us. They were able to contain our big man, June, and our import (EJ),” Teng said. “We missed a lot of three-point shots, so we just have to regroup and make those shots in Game 2.”Additionally, Teng stated that they need to improve their defense since it is currently lacking, particularly on the perimeter, which is one of Ginebra’s core abilities.

Losing Game 1 of their semi-finals series against Ginebra was tough for San Miguel Beermen as they went from a grinding five-game quarterfinal match-up against Converge and another face-off in EASL but the coaches do not see their schedule as an excuse for their loss.In an exclusive interview with Scoreline.ph, SMB assistant coach Peter Martin his piece on why they lost the game and on how they can bounce back from their loss and tie the series come Game 2.First he shared about the lesson learned in their Converge series. He shared that the whole team relaxed and they thought that it would be an easy series for them but when they have given a little chance to the FiberXers, they put them to a grueling do-or-die game.Martin added that even though they were a little bit tired against the fresh Ginebra squad, they don’t see it as a big factor on why they lost the opening game of the series. But that’s the price they have to pay off on being relaxed in their previous series.“Despite the fact that we played 5 games, and we even played against EASL last Wednesday, we don't make that an excuse. Maybe it's just one small factor. But it's the Brownlee effect,” said Martin.If you watched the game last night, he had 5 four-point shots and scored 20 points in the third quarter. That cannot happen against a team like Ginebra,” he added.Asked on what they need to do in the next game in order for them to cope up against the Gin Kings, Martin said in jest, “Maybe don’t let (Justin) Brownlee hold the ball.”He also said that they just need to have a defensive scheme against the six-time PBA champion import so that Brownlee’s explosion will not happen again, especially that they are not going up against a weak team.“They are one of the strongest teams. If not the strongest team, the strongest team in the PBA right now because of Justin Brownlee. So he's the focal point. We saw it last night and we have to adjust,” Martin said.The SMB assistant coach also told Scoreline.ph that they lacked in their schemes during Game 1 and needed to improve their effort level and surpass the effort level of Ginebra.

Seasoned senior chess players Chito Garma and Efren Bagamasbad will compete for the Philippines in the 32nd FIDE World Senior Championships in Portugal next month.The two Filipinos will compete in the Porto tournament from November 16 to 29 with the goal of achieving the Grandmaster titles.Garma, a two-time Olympian, is competing in the 50-and-up group, Bagamasbad in the 65-plus category, and another member, Mario Mangubat, has also entered the 50-plus division.In their appearance at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday, October 8, Garma, Bagamasbad, and Philippine delegation member Marlon Bernardino discussed and assessed the country’s chances of contending against the world’s best senior chess players next month.“It would be nice to hear that you are a world senior champion and also a grandmaster,” said Garma in Filipino, who competed for the nation in the Chess Olympiads in Manila in 1992 and Yugoslavia in 1990.“This also serves as an inspiration to the young players because if we could do it, then they could, too,” he added.