Unbeaten Pioneer tops pool play, secures QF spot in PBA 3x3 Grand Finals

Pioneer, Purefoods, San Miguel Beer and Terrafirma gained quarterfinal berths after securing top two finishes in their respective pools Wednesday, Dec. 29 in the PBA 3x3 Grand Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Winning all two games in the preliminaries, Pioneer’s Carlo de Chavez, Carlo Escalambre, Christian Rivera and Gian Abrigo topped Pool B with Purefoods’ Joseph Eriobu, Pao Javelona, Jed Mendoza and Jun Bonsubre settling for second at 1-1.
The Pro Tibay eliminated winless Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 21-16, before carving out a thrilling 22-20 overtime victory over Purefoods on De Chavez’s two-pointer.
San Miguel and Terrafirma finished tied with third leg champion Sista at 1-1 but advanced to the knockout stage due to an advantage in the tiebreaker.
SMB’s Jeff Manday, James Mangahas, John Yasa and Bacon Austria bounced back from a 21-17 loss to Terrafirma by prevailing over Sista with a 21-15 result to eventually take top spot in Pool A.
Terrafirma’s Dhon Reverente, TH Tumalip, Matt Salem and Jebb Bulawan were denied a sweep by Sista with an 18-14 defeat but progressed to the quarters as the second placer of the pool.
The quarterfinal pairings pit Terrafirma taking on top seed Meralco, Pioneer playing Platinum Karaoke, SMB facing two-time leg champion Limitless App and Purefoods meeting TNT.
The semis and finals will be played on the same day, the champion of the inaugural conference presented by 1Pacman party list receiving P750,000.
P250,000 goes to the runner-up while the winner of the third place game gets P100,000.