FOUR teams led by past winners Purefoods and Meralco advanced to the knockout stage of the PBA 3x3 at the conclusion of the Leg 5 opener on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The TJ Titans and Bolts along with Limitless Appmasters and Terrafirma clinched the top two berths in their respective groups with similar unbeaten records as action in the three-a-side tournament shifted to morning plays for the very first time from its previous afternoon timeslot.
With Joseph Eriobu still on fire, Purefoods, champion of the previous leg and gunning for a back-to-back title, beat NorthPort (21-19), Zamboanga Valientes (21-6), and Pioneer Pro Tibay (21-2), one after the other to post a 3-0 record in Pool A.
Limitless Appmasters matched Purefoods’ record by picking up wins over Zamboanga (22-7), Pioneer Pro Tibay (21-13), and NorthPort (22-10) as the two teams clinched outright the first two quarterfinals slots in their group.
Leg 2 winner Meralco also did the same in Pool B with its 2-0 mark behind victories against Barangay Ginebra (19-18) and Cavitex (21-19).
Dexter Maiquez nad the Bolts 3x3 go 2-0.
Terrafirma then clinched the second quarterfinal berth in the same group by turning back Barangay Ginebra (21-11) and Cavitex 20-19, to keep pace with the Bolts.
Platinum Karaoke is undefeated in two games in Pool C, but is not yet assured of an automatic berth in the next round. They play on Sunday against Sista Super Sealers, winner of the third leg.
The rest of the cast still remain in contention for the knockout stage, with six more games on tap on the final day of pool play on Sunday.
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