San Miguel continued its winning ways in the Philippine Basketball Association 3×3 Season 3 as it opened its campaign in Leg 2 with back-to-back rousing victories Monday at the Ayala Mall Circuit.
With veteran Ken Bono at the helm, the Beermen defeated Northport, 21-9, and Pioneer Elastoseal, 21-18, one after the other to take the lead in Pool B behind a 2-0 record.
The victories put the Beermen in strong contention of advancing in Tuesday’s knockout stage also at the same Makati venue.
San Miguel made the quarterfinals of Leg 1 last week, where it pulled major surprises by upsetting grand slam winner TNT Triple Giga and second seed Cavitex to march into the finals.
The Beermen, though, fell short of winning the crown and the P100,000 prize money as they lost to Barangay Ginebra Kings in overtime, 19-17.
Meanwhile, Meralco brought Barangay Ginebra back to earth behind a 21-14 win, six days removed from clinching the championship of the opening leg.
But the Bolts couldn’t sustain their momentum, losing their next game against TNT Triple Giga, 15-10, to finish their Pool A campaign with an even 1-1 card.