Almond Vosotros knocked down a game-winning two-pointer as TNT came back to beat Meralco, 21-19, and capture the first leg crown of the PBA 3x3 second conference Sunday, Feb. 20, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Vosotros’ shot from beyond the arc with 1:12 left in the final enabled the Tropang Giga to take home the top purse of P100,000 despite having to overcome a five-point deficit on several occasions.
The scoring champion of the previous conference also got a big help from new addition Reymark Acuno, who was placed on the halfcourt competition after he was left in the free agent market by Blackwater.
Also composed of Lervin Flores and Samboy de Leon, TNT won all six games in the inaugural leg to pull off a carbon copy of its first leg championship in the first conference, also at Meralco’s expense.
TNT topped Pool B after winning over Meralco, San Miguel Beer and Pioneer before prevailing over Purefoods, 21-15, in the quarterfinals.
The Tropang Giga then had to go through the Limitless Appmasters, winners of the inaugural conference, in the semis and prevailed 20-19 in overtime on Vosotros’ two-point shot.
Meralco’s Tonino Gonzaga, Alfred Batino, Joseph Sedurifa and Dexter Maiquez settled for a runner-up finish and P50,000 to begin its road redemption after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in the Grand Finals.
The Bolts made the finals after eliminating top seed Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 21-20, when Sedurifa hit a free throw to seal the deal.
Ginebra, perhaps an emerging power in the competition with the additions of Encho Serrano and Jayson David, took third spot and P30,000 after downing Limitless, 21-17.
It was the best finish for Ginebra after failing to get past the quarterfinals in any of the six legs in the past tourney.
Serrano, David and holdovers Jollo Go and Denice Villamor made waves in the preliminaries by going 4-0 in Pool A the previous day and began the knockout stage with a 21-14 defeat of San Miguel.