DENIED of first-leg honors, the Meralco Bolts delivered an electrifying performance to beat all contenders for the Leg 2 plum in the PBA 3x3 Lakas ng Tatlo Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The Bolts crew of Tonino Gonzaga, Joseph Sedurifa, Dexter Maiquez and Alfred Batino set the tone for their rise to the top with a vengeful 21-13 semifinal victory over their tormentors last time, the TnT Tropang Giga.
Fired-up by this payback win, Gonzaga and Co. unleashed an all-out effort in the final match and scored a masterful 21-16 clincher over Platinum's Karl Dehesa, Chris de Chavez, JR Alabanza and Yutien Andrada.
The Bolts gave Patrick Fran his maiden win as a coach and earned P100,000 for this feat.
"We just stuck to our habits. As teammates, we didn't mind the results, just stayed together, did the right thing, used one another to win," said Gonzaga, who fired seven points in the finals, including five in Meralco's 10-3 start.
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Prior to taking out TnT, the Bolts roared to an emphatic 21-12 triumph over quarterfinal rival San Miguel Beer. They started the day with a similar 21-12 spanking of Barangay Ginebra at the end of the Pool B elims en route to a place in the knockout rounds.
Platinum, one of three guest teams in the stand-alone PBA 3x3, netted P50,000 for its best finish so far.
Meanwhile, first-leg rulers Almond Vosotros, Jeremiah Gray, Lervin Flores and Samboy de Leon of TNT settled for third place worth P30,000. They secured a podium finish with a 21-14 dispatching of Limitless App.
Platinum booked its first finals stint via a 21-16 verdict over the Appmasters in the semis, using an 8-2 windup led by 3x3 vet Dehesa to get the job done.
The Platinum cagers reached the semis via a 20-17 victory over Sista in the quarterfinals while Limitless made it to the Final Four on the strength of a 21-17 quarterfinal result over Pioneer Pro Tibay.
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There's little time to rest for the 13 PBA 3x3 pioneer teams as they quickly move on to the third leg on Saturday. (OL)
The Scores:
Quarterfinals 2
Meralco Bolts 21 - Gonzaga 11, Sedurifa 4, Maiquez 4, Batino 2.
San Miguel Beermen 12 - Vigil 2, Manday 6, Nermal 4, Mangahas 0.
Quarterfinals 3
Limitless Appmasters 21 - Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Caduyac 8, Hayes 3, Belencion 2.
Pioneer Pro Tibay 17 - Rono 5, De Chavez 5, Escalambre Belencion 5, Abrigo 2.
Quarterfinals 1
TNT Tropang GIGA 21 - Vosotros 13, De Leon 5, Gray 2, Flores 1.
Terrafirma 13 - Tumalip 4, Reverente 3, Salem 3, Bulawan 3.
Quarterfinals 4
Platinum Karaoke 20 - Dehesa 8, Alabanza 6, Andrada 4, De Chavez 2.
Sista Super Sealers 17 - Mocon 8, Rivero 5, De Vera 3, Argamino 1.
Semifinals 1
Meralco Bolts 21 - Gonzaga 12, Sedurifa 5, Maiquez 3, Batino 1.
TNT Tropang GIGA 13 - De Leon 5, Gray 4, Vosotros 3, Flores 1.
Semifinals 2
Platinum Karaoke 21 - Dehesa 6, Alabanza 6, De Chavez 6, Andrada 3.
Limitless Appmasters 16 - Caduyac 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Hayes 4, Belencion 1.
Battle for Third
TNT Tropang Giga 21 - Gray 6, Vosotros 5, Flores 5, De Leon 5.
Limitless Appmasters 14 - Hayes 5, Belencion 5, Ganuelas-Rosser 3, Caduyac 1.
Finals
Meralco Bolts 21 - Gonzaga 7, Sedurifa 6, Maiquez 5,Batino 3.
Platinum Karaoke 16 - De Chavez 11, Dehesa 2 Alabanza 2, Andrada 1.
