BLACKWATER denied San Miguel a shot at winning a second straight leg in the PBA 3x3 after eliminating the Beermen from contention for a berth in the knockout stage of Leg 5 of Season 2’s First Conference Saturday at Robinsons Novaliches.
The Red President began group play with a 21-13 stunner of the Beermen behind the 12 points of Alfrancis Tamsi, but couldn’t score a follow up as they absorbed a close 21-19 loss to Cavitex to round out their Pool A campaign.
Yet, the team shot its way as the top seed in the quarterfinals on Sunday after garnering 40 tiebreak points.
See Encho Serrano not out to prove anything to his 3x3 team Ginebra
Blackwater actually ended up in a triple tie with the Beermen and Braves, who lost to San Miguel, 21-16.
But the Braves had a higher tiebreak score than the Beermen, 37-34, to take the No. 2 seed in their group and prevent the Leg 4 winner from scoring a back-to-back titles.
Ping Exciminano and the Tropang Giga advance.
Meanwhile, TNT, Meralco, and J&T Express also advanced after topping their respective group via a 2-0 sweep.
The Tropang Giga, the opening leg winner, emerged unscathed in Pool B after beating Barangay Ginebra (21-11) and NorthPort. The Bolts, Leg 3 champion, swept their way in Pool C with wins over Terrafirma (16-12) and Pioneer Elastoseal (21-14). The Express turned back Platinum Karaoke (15-10) and Purefoods (20-17) in dominating Pool D.
The Kings emerged No. 2 in Pool B, Katibays in Pool C, and Platinum in Pool D to likewise make the quarterfinals.
Match up in the quarterfinals will have Blackwater taking on Pioneer Elastoseal, J&T Express battling Barangay Ginebra, TNT clashing with Platinum Karaoke, and Meralco facing Cavitex.
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