New team J&T Express made some noise in its PBA 3x3 debut after downing two favored teams in the opening leg of Season 2 First Conference on Saturday at the Robinsons Place Antipolo.
The Express stunned the Purefoods Titans in their debut game, 21-11, behind the 14 points of Joseph Sedurifa, and continued to wax hot on a rainy afternoon following a similar 21-12 win over San Miguel Beer as Sedurifa and Robert Datu combined for 18 of the team’s total output.
The twin victories propelled J&T of coach Ryan Monteclaro on top of Pool D and an outright berth in the knockout stage right in its first ever conference.
Meanwhile, TNT Tropang Giga also kicked off its campaign on a high note behind a 21-14 win over Pioneer Elastoseal Katibays as Ping Exciminiano showed the way with nine points.
The Tropang Giga later made it two in a row with a thrilling 20-19 victory over Cavitex, to likewise advance in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 record in Pool A.
The Tropang Giga retained the same core of Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores, and Samboy De Leon who were part of the team that won the Third Conference grand finals of Season 1.
In other Day 1 results, Pioneer evened its record at 1-1 in Pool A by edging Cavitex, 15-14, to spoil the debut of Jorey Napoles with the Braves, while Platinum Karaoke turned back Terrafirma, 19-15, to notch the early lead in Pool C.
In Pool B, NorthPort whipped Barangay Ginebra, 19-12, before Meralco sent the Kings reeling to their second straight loss, 20-14.
Several other games in the pool stage are still being played as of presstime.
The knockout stage meanwhile, will be played Sunday with the first leg champion this season receiving P100,000.