SAN Miguel Beer carried over its winning tradition to the PBA 3x3 Lakas ng Tatlo as the Beermen took the Second Conference Leg 2 top honors with a 21-15 clincher over Barangay Ginebra Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Hot-shooting Jeff Manday sparked a sizzling 12-2 start that the 3x3 team of the PBA's winningest franchise used as stepping stone for its maiden leg triumph in the three-a-side hoopfest.
Manday finished with 13 points laced by five two-pointers while veterans Ken Bono and Bacon Austria had three apiece and debutant Mon Rogado added two in the clinching win.
The Boycie Zamar-coached SMB reaped the fruits of major player changes after a not-so-productive campaign in the first conference and struck gold its finals appearance. The Beermen, whose previous best finish was fourth, netted P100,000 as Leg 2 victors.
"Sobrang saya dahil ang tagal naming hinintay ito. Six legs tapos grand finals (in the First Conference) tapos first leg (of the Second Conference)," said Austria, who delivered the championship point with his putback off Bono's miss.
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"We stayed the course lang. We got new players in Ken and Mon, laking tulong talaga nila Nagsipag lang kami sa practices and nagtiwala sa isa't isa," he added.
The Gin Kings, whose bid for a breakthrough plum was stymied by the ankle sprain sustained by Jayson David in the semifinals, settled for runner-up honors worth P50,000.
Both SMB and Ginebra reached the leg finale for the first time after similarly hacking outcome-from-behind capers in the Final Four.
The Beermen banked on clutch buckets by Manday and Bono to overturn a 17-18 deficit and topple then undefeated Pioneer Pro Tibay, 21-19.
Despite David's injury, Gin Kings Encho Serrano, Jollo Go and Denice Villamor soldiered on, unleashing a 7-1 closing salvo to claw back from four points down and take down First Conference champ Limitless App, 21-18.
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Appmasters Brandon Rosser, Reymar Caduyac, Jorey Napoles and Marvin Hayes later grabbed third place and P30,000 as they nipped Pioneer, 21-13, for a podium finish.
Earlier in the Last-8, it was SMB over Platinum, 21-17, Ginebra over Meralco, 22-15, Pioneer over Purefoods, 19-14, and Limitless over Leg 1 ruler TnT, 21-20.
In the morning pool sessions, Meralco and Limitless completed a sweep of their respective groups. The Bolts took their third win at the expense of Purefoods, 20-16, for a spotless mark in Pool B while the Appmasters did the same in Pool C with their 21-14 shellacking of NorthPort.
TnT bounced back from Saturday's loss to unbeaten Pool A topnotcher Pioneer (4-0), edging Master in its elims wrapup, 15-13, to take No. 2 seed. SMB (2-2) grabbed No. 3 on the strength of a 21-12 drubbing of Sista (1-3) and advanced.
Platinum finished second to Meralco after posting its second win in three games versus Terrafirma (0-3), 21-18.
Ginebra wound up with the No. 2 seed behind Limitless with 2-1, making Cavitex its last pool victim, 21-19.
Third-ranked squads Purefoods and NorthPort collided in the knockout for the last quarterfinal berth with the Titans prevailing, 21-18. (OL)
The Scores:
Game 17
Barangay Ginebra 21 - Go 11, David 5, Serrano 4, Villamor 1.
CAVITEX 19 - Soberano 13, Rivero 5, Reyes 1, Fonacier 0.
Game 18
Meralco 20 - Sedurifa 7, Maiquez 6, Gonzaga 5, Batino 2.
Purefoods TJ 16 - Eriobu 9, Acuna 4, Javelona 2, Bonsubre 1.
Game 19
SMB 21 - Rogado 7, Manday 6, Bono 5, Austria 3.
Sista 12 - Mocon 6, Jamon 3, Manlangit 2, De Vera 1.
Game 20
Limitless 21 - Napoles 9, Hayes 6, Rosser 5, Caduyac 1.
NorthPort 14 - Webb 9, Olayon 5, Calisaan 0.
Game 21
Platinum Karaoke 21 - De Chavez 8, Alabanza 7, Andrada 4, Banal 2.
Terrafirma 18 - Tumalip 7, Reverente 6, Taladua 5, Bulawan 0.
Game 22
TNT 15 - Vosotros 9, Flores 4, De Leon 2, Acuno 0.
Master Sardines 13 - Tabi 8, Hernandez 3, Mabayo 2, Sorela 0.
KO for quarterfinals
Purefoods TJ 21 - Eriobu 14, Javelona 6, Bonsubre 1, Acuna 0.
NorthPort 18 - Webb 8, Calisaan 7, Olayon 3.
Quarterfinals
SMB 21 - Manday 14, Rogado 4, Austria 2, Bono 1.
Platinum Karaoke 17 - De Chavez 11, Banal 4, Alabanza 1, Andrada 1.
Quarterfinals
Barangay Ginebra 22 - Serrano 9, Go 5, David 4, Villamor 4.
Meralco 15 - Gonzaga 8, Batino 4, Maiquez 2, Sedurifa 1.
Quarterfinals
Pioneer Pro Tibay 19 - Rivera 7, Rono 5, De Chavez 4, Abrigo 3.
Purefoods TJ 14 - Javelona 9, Eriobu 4, Acuna 1, Bonsubre 0.
Quarterfinals
Limitless 21 - Rosser 7, Hayes 5, Caduyac 5, Napoles 4.
TNT 20 - Vosotros 11, De Leon 5, Flores 3, Acuno 1.
Semifinals
SMB 21 - Manday 10, Bono 6, Rogado 4, Austria 1.
Pioneer Pro Tibay 19 - Rono 7, Rivera 6, Abrigo 4, De Chavez 2.
Battle for third
Limitless 21 - Rosser 9, Napoles 7, Caduyac 3, Hayes 2.
Pioneer Pro Tibay 13 - De Chavez 8, Rono 2, Abrigo 2, Rivera 1.
Finals
SMB 21 - Manday 13, Austria 3, Bono 3, Rogado 2.
Ginebra 15 - Villamor 7, Serrano 5, David 2, Go 1.
