MERALCO denied Limitless App a second straight leg title following a 17-14 upset in the finals on Sunday of the PBA 3x3 Conference 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Dexter Maiquez and Alfred Batino led the Bolts back from an early deficit to stun the highly-favored Appmasters for the Leg 4 championship.
The two combined to score nine of the Bolts' last 10 points in beating the team considered the most accomplished so far in the young history of the standalone tournament.
Tonino Gonzaga added five and Joseph Sedurifa had a point to round out the scoring for the newly-crowned leg champion.
"Sinabi ko lang sa kanila kanina, you can't outplay them, just outworked them," said winning coach Patrick Fran,
"And don't stop defending. They're a very good team. And they're our national team, to tell you honestly. So sabi ko lang just play your hearts out."
The win was worth P100,000 for the Bolts, who now have won two leg championships in two conferences.
Jorey Napoles led the Appmasters with six points as the Leg 3 winner appeared ripe of winning a second straight crown when they took a 9-5 lead halfway into the finale.
But they began missing their shots just as the Bolts started hitting their strides, with Maiquez and Batino instigating a closing 12-5 run to wrap up the championship and ended the Appmasters' 13-game winning streak dating back to the previous leg last week.
Top seeded Limitless App settled for the P50,000 runner-up money.
Earlier, TNT copped third place with a 21-17 win over San Miguel Beer.
Almond Vosotros topscored for 11 points and hit the long 2 that secured the P30,000 purse for the Tropang Giga.
Jeff Manday had a game-high 14 points in a losing cause for the Beermen.
The scores
Third place
TNT (21) - Vosotros 11, Flores 7, Gozum 2, Acuno 1.
SMB (17) - Manday 14, Bono 3, Vigil 0, Mangahas 0.
Finals
Meralco (17) - Maiquez 6, Batino 5, Gonzaga 5, Sedurifa 1
Limitless (14) - Napoles 6, Caduyac 5, Rosser 3, Hayes 0
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