SAN Miguel Beer defeated Barangay Ginebra, 21-15, to bag its first ever leg crown in the PBA 3x3 tournament on Sunday.
The Beermen raced to a 14-4 lead behind the outside shooting of guard Jeff Manday before holding back a late rally by the Kings.
The quartet of Manday, Ken Bono, Bacon Austria, and Moncrief Rogado won the top prize of P100,000.
Manday raised the level of his game in the playoffs, where he averaged 11.7 points per game all the way to the finals after norming just 4.8 points during the pool play.
He spearheaded the Beermen's 21-17 win over Platinum Karaoke in the quarterfinals, and then carried the team past top seed Pioneer Pro Tibay in the semis, 21-19, to reach the finals for the very first time.
His outside shooting against the Kings allowed the Beermen to take control early and held on despite a belated comeback by Ginebra.
“Dito naman sa 3x3, there’s no guarantee na if you’re champion for the first leg, you’re the champion in the second leg rin. Wala,” said San Miguel coach Boycie Zamar.
The Kings took home the runner up purse worth P50,000 as they surpased their previous best finish of third place during the opening leg of the conference two weeks ago.
In the battle for third, Limitless App won P30,000 by beating Pioneer Pro Tibay, 21-13.
The scores
Finals
San Miguel (21) - Manday 13, Austria 3, Bono 3, Rogado 2.
Ginebra (15) - Villamor 7, Serrano 5, David 2, Go 1.
Third place
Limitless App (21) - Rosser 9, Napoles 7, Caduyac 3, Hayes 2.
Pioneer Pro Tibay (13) - De Chavez 8, Rono 2, Abrigo 2, Rivera 1.
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