Meralco got off to a rousing start in Leg 2 of the Philippine Basketball Association 3×3 Third Conference following a two-game sweep of its group at the start of pool play at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay on Monday.
Joseph Sedurifa exploded for 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from two-point range as the Bolts dealt multi-titled TNT a 21-14 beating to kick off their campaign in Pool A.
Then, Sedurifa teamed up with Jeff Manday in a 21-13 ousting of Barangay Ginebra that booked the Leg 1 champions an outright berth in the knockout stage set on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Sedurifa shot the lights out as he was a perfect 3-of-3 from the two-point area to finish with nine points, while Manday top scored for 10 as the duo accounted for all but two of Meralco’s total output against the Kings.
TNT booked the other quarterfinals berth in Pool A by routing Ginebra, 21-7.
Cavitex and San Miguel Beer also made strong cases of advancing to the next stage by topping their respective pools as of press time.
The Beermen currently lead Pool B with a 2-0 mark after back-to-back wins over guest team MCFASolver, 21-19, and Pioneer Elastoseal, 21-12.
The Braves, for their part, did the same in Pool C by dispatching Terrafirma, 22-15, and Northport, 21-9.
Only Ginebra had been eliminated for contention in the quarterfinals as the remaining six berths are still up for grabs.
