WITH grand slam-seeking TNT out of the way, Meralco pounced on the opportunity and ruled Leg 1 of the PBA 3x3 Third Conference Season 3 on Tuesday.
The Bolts took care of business against guest team MCFASolver, 15-13, to finally win their first title in the three-a-side game in almost a year.
Bolts end 3x3 title drought
The Mutt and Jeff tandem of Alfred Batino and Jeff Manday each scored five points and Reymar Caduyac and Joseph Sedurifa accounted for the rest in the win that netted the team the P100,000 champion purse at the Ayala Malls Glorietta.
The last time coach Patrick Fran and the Bolts emerged champion came in the third leg of Season 2 First Conference.
From there, the franchise would finish leg runner-up twice this season, and came close to knocking TNT from its lofty perch in the Second Conference grand finals only to lose in overtime, 21-19.
But the Bolts were not to be denied this time.
As Cavitex eliminated a struggling TNT side in the quarterfinals, 19-17, Meralco took care of its own business and ousted Barangay Ginebra, 21-16, in the Round-of-Eight and slammed the door on Purefoods in the semis, 21-13.
The Braves failed to score a rousing follow up to their victory over the Triple Giga as the Tech Centrale booted them out in the semis by the skin of their teeth, 20-19, to arrange the title showdown against the Bolts.
Meralco trailed early on, 4-5, but reversed the tide in its favor behind a 9-3 run to take the lead for good, 13-8.
Last conference’s scoring champion Brandon Ramirez finished with six points to lead MCFASolver, which gained P50,000 for finishing runner-up.
Cavitex later consoled itself by taking third place after beating the Titans, 21-18. They took home the prize money worth P30,000.
The scores:
Third place
Cavitex (21) – Napoles 7, Gonzaga 6, Paniamogan 4, Ighalo 4.
Purefoods (18) – Gozum 8, Rivera 5, Raflores 3, Bunag 2.
Finals
Meralco (15) – Batino 5, Manday 5, Caduyac 3, Sedurifa 2.
MCFASolver (13) – Ramirez 6, Tumalip 3, Andrada 2, Vigil 2.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
