The San Miguel Beermen ENDED TNT Tropang Giga’s campaign for the third consecutive leg championship in the PBA 3 × 3 Third Conference with a 21 – 12 win in the Leg 5 Finals yesterday.
Jeff Manday and Ken Bono recorded half of the Beermen’s output against history-seeking Tropang Giga to take the title in front of a capacity Father’s Day crowd at Robinsons Place in Antipolo.
The Beermen’s first leg crown in this conference costs P100,000.
San Miguel didn’t look back after Manday scored in a lay-up to break the 7 – 7 tie at the halfway mark of the finals.
Manday’s basket lit up the 9 – 2 run as the Beermen went 16-9, with 3:31 left.
The San Miguel guard, who came from a hand injury he sustained last conference, finished with 7 points and a game-high 9 rebounds, Bono added 6, while Wendell Comboy and Bambam Gamalinda added 5 and 3 points, respectively. in order.
This is the first leg title for San Miguel, coached by Boyzie Zamar, since Leg 6 dominated the second conference. Only Bono and Manday are part of the championship unit.
San Miguel beat Barangay Ginebra in the first round of the knockout stage, 21 – 15, and then outscored the hard-fighting Cavitex side in the semis, 21 – 20, to advance to the finals.
Meanwhile, TNT relied on Vosotros’ 17-point explosion in the quarterfinals to upset Purefoods, 21 – 17, before eliminating Terrafirma, 21 – 15, in the semis to set up a showdown in San Miguel.
With the defeat TNT failed in its campaign to make history to become the first team to win three consecutive leg championships. The runner-up finish gave the telecommunication franchise a P50,000 cash prize.
Cavitex took third place in a 21 – 14 win over Terrafirma for P30,000 prize money.
Summary of Scores:
• Third place: Cavitex scores (21) – Rivero 8, Galanza 8, Saldua 5, Rangel 0. Terrafirma (14) – Alanes 5, Taladua 5, Cenal 4, Cachuela 0. • Finals: San Miguel scores (21) – Manday 7, Bono 6, Comboy 5, Gamalinda 3. TNT (12) – Vosotros 9, De Leon 3, Acuno 0, Mendoza 0.
