RED-HOT Meralco continued its charge and burst into the quarterfinals of Leg 5 of the PBA 3x3 Season 3 Third Conference with a spotless mark Monday at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
On the heels of back-to-back wins in Legs 3 and 4, the Bolts quickly flexed their muscles in Pool A via a 21-9 romp over NorthPort then outlasted Cavitex in a tight battle for group No. 1, 17-15.
Jeff Manday dropped eight points on a perfect 6-of-6 field goal to tow Meralco to the wire-to-wire opening victory. The Meralco spitfire then produced a seven-pointer versus the Braves as Joseph Sedurifa secured win No. 2 with a big-time two-point bucket.
The Braves followed the Bolts to Tuesday's knockout rounds with a 1-1 card, their 21-11 destruction of NorthPort (0-2) keying their advance as second seeds in Pool A.
MCFASolver - the only other team to win a leg aside from three-leg victor Meralco - hurdled its first two assignments in Pool C to claim a Last-8 ticket with a game to spare.
The Tech Centrale, winner of Leg 2, dug deep to overcome a pair of tough challenges from Barangay Ginebra, 21-20, and Blackwater, 21-19.
Sponsored content:
Also advancing with its 2-1 record in Pool B was TNT.
The Triple Giga, hunting for their conference breakthrough after finishing second in Legs 3 and 4, thrashed San Miguel Beer, 21-12, then leaned on Xyrus Torres' marginal deuce to survive Pioneer in overtime, 22-20. Purefoods (1-1), however, denied TNT of a pool sweep with a 21-19 upset.
The race for the remaining seats in the quarterfinals continues in the last two matches of the eliminations Tuesday morning.
SMB (1-1) and Purefoods (1-1) tangle in a crucial Pool B encounter at 11 a.m. with Pioneer (1-2) anxiously waiting for the results. Terrafirma (1-1) seeks to boost its drive in Pool C against unbeaten MCFASolver in the final pool slate before the quarters kick off. (OL)
