MERALCO proved to be red-hot and realized an initial goal yesterday.
The Bolts notched two straight wins to clinch a quarterfinals berth in Leg 5 of the PBA 3×3 First Conference after the first day of pool play at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
Meralco clobbered Ginebra 18-13 and Pioneer Elastoseal 19-14 to top Pool C and gain a place in the knockout stage today at the same venue.
Big man Alfred Batino is leading the way as Meralco eyes to complete a three-game sweep with a victory over winless Wilcon Depot at press time yesterday.
TNT joined Meralco in the next round after the Bolts posted a similar 2-0 record in Pool B.
Playing without gunner Almond Vosotros, the Triple Giga remained in contention for the P100,000 champion purse by nipping Purefoods 15-14 and whipping Blackwater 21-14.
Leg 4 champion Cavitex took the early lead in Pool A following a 21-12 rout of Terrafirma for a 1-0 record as Bong Galanza went 5-of-5 from the field to finish with eight points for the Braves, who also got seven markers from Jorey Napoles.
Still fighting for the remaining quarterfinal berths were Terrafirma (1-1) and Northport (0-1) in Pool A, Blackwater (1-1), Purefoods (1-1), and San Miguel (0-2) in Pool B, and Pioneer Elastoseal (1-1), Ginebra (1-1), and Wilcon Depot (0-2) in Pool C.
Only the top eight teams– two in Pool A and three in Pools B and C– will play in the quarterfinals.
The runner-up will receive P50,000 and third placer P30,000.
Previous winners of this conference were Ginebra (Legs 1 and 2), TNT (Leg 3), and Cavitex.
