BARANGAY Ginebra clinched the 10th and last seat to the PBA 3x3 Season 3 Third Conference Grand Finals after outperforming NorthPort in Leg 6 Tuesday.
The Gin Kings, who were only ahead of the 11th-running Batang Pier by seven tour points after five legs, guaranteed their place in the conference championship with a quarterfinal stint in the sixth stop.
They were sent packing by eventual leg winner Cavitex in the quarterfinals, 21-17, but the sixth place finish worth 45 points was enough to get the Gin Kings into the "Magic 10" with 181 total points.
Left behind were the Batang Pier (147 points), whose bid was ultimately doomed by their 10th place in Leg 6 worth 18 points.
Meralco, despite missing the podium, finished as the top seed among the finalists with 490 points.
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Leg 5 ruler TNT, which defeated the Legs 1, 3 and 4-winning Bolts for third spot in the sixth leg, 21-16, took No. 2 overall with 410 while Cavitex, which snapped a 12-leg drought with a 20-18 gold clincher over Blackwater, grabbed third with 400.
Leg 2 kingpin MCFASolver, which failed to get past pool play, slid two places to No. 4 with 390 but kept its standing in the coveted seats.
For making the Top 4, the Bolts, Triple Giga, Braves and the Tech Centrale were rewarded with direct entry to the quarterfinal phase of the conference championship set for Feb. 19.
Meanwhile, No. 5 Blackwater (296), No. 6 San Miguel Beer (267), No. 7 Purefoods (211), No. 8 Pioneer Elastoseal (209), Terrafirma (203) and Ginebra will first go through the elimination stage to dispute the four other tickets to the Last-8 and a chance to win the conference crown and the cool P750,000 champion's purse. (OL)
