TNT kept its dominance of the Philippine Basketball Association 3×3 grand finals Sunday night.
The Triple Giga rode on the hot hands of Gryan Mendoza, before Almond Vosotros nailed the game-clincher against top seed Cavitex, 21-18, to retain the First Conference championship at the Ayala Malls Market! Market!
TNT trailed early on 7-12, but Mendoza found his range and waxed hot, putting the team in front, 18-17, heading into the final two minutes of the thrilling match.
From there, Vosotros took care of business and hit the winning basket that secured the franchise’s fifth straight conference title and the P750,000 prize money that went with it.
“Definitely, this is just a testament on how good this team is,” said TNT coach Mau Belen at the conclusion of the opening conference of Season 3.
Mendoza took away the scoring honor from Vosotros as he finished with 10 points. Vosotros, whose long reign as the tournament’s scoring champion, added seven points, five rebounds and six assists.
Lervin Flores had three points and seven rebounds, while Samboy de Leon added a basket for the second seeded Triple Giga, who were cheered on the sideline by TNT 5-on-5 champion coach and team manager Jojo Lastimosa.
Cavitex was led by the seven points of Dominick Fajardo while Jorey Napoles, who was crowned as the meet’s newest scoring king added six. The runner-up finish was worth P250,000 for the Braves of coach Kyles Lao, who were supported by the personal appearance of NLEX alternate governor Ronald Dulatre.
In the battle for third place, Meralco took down Barangay Ginebra, 18-14, to bag the P100,000 prize money.
Cavitex and TNT, seeded no. 2, both went through the wringer in the semis to arrange the titular showdown.
The Braves turned back Joseph Sedurifa and the Meralco Bolts in overtime, 17-16, behind the game-winner of Bong Galanza, while the Triple Giga defeated Barangay Ginebra Kings, 21-16, as Vosotros caught fire late in the game.
Earlier, the four seeded teams made the semifinals by disposing their respective foes in the opening round of the knockout phase.
Cavitex made short work of Pioneer Elastoseal (21-12), Meralco turned back San Miguel (16-14), TNT downed Blackwater (21-17), and Barangay Ginebra survived a spirited Wilcon Depot 3×3 side, 18-14.
San Miguel, Blackwater, Wilcon Depot and Pioneer Elastoseal clinched the last four berths in the quarterfinals by coming out on top of their respective pools.
The Beermen and Bossing ended up tied with Northport Batang Pier with identical 1-1 records in Pool A during the preliminaries, but advanced to the quarterfinals after finishing with the highest total points after two games.
San Miguel totaled 38 points, Blackwater with 33, and Northport with 27.
