Tuesday night at the Ayala Mall Market Market, CAVITEX won the third and final leg of the PBA 3×3 Third Conference, capping off a successful campaign.

The Braves rallied around Jorey Napoles, who turned down Blackwater Razer Smooth’s shock attempt, 20-18, to win Leg 6 and the P100,000 top purse.

It was indeed Cavitex’s bittersweet win.

The former member of the 3×3 national team scored the final three points for the Braves to seal the dramatic victory, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Due to its struggles in the group round, Cavitex hardly got to the knockout stage. Instead, it had to wait to secure a quarterfinal spot until the Titans’ victory in the MCFASolver-Purefoods knockout match.

However, in the playoffs, the Braves were a different squad. They defeated Leg 5 champion TNT in the semifinals, 18-16, and then defeated Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals, 21-17, to make their first-ever conference championship round.

He made a layup to level the score, and then he bounded inside to give Cavitex the lead, 19–18.

RJ Deles squandered an excellent layup opportunity to tie the game for the final time.

For Cavitex under Coach Kyles Lao, Kenneth Ighalo scored four points, while Bong Galanza and Clint Doliguez added two points each.

Blackwater’s P50,000 second-place finish was a first for the team and an excellent way to create momentum for the grand finals in two weeks.

TNT won the P30,000 prize money by defeating Meralco 21–16 in the fight for third place.

The Scores

Third Place

TNT 21- Saldua 9, Mendoza 7, Torres 5.

Meralco (16) – Manday 5, Batino 5, Sedurifa 3, Caduyac 3.

Finals

Cavitex (20) – Napoles 13, Ighalo 4, Doliguez 2, Galanza 1.

Blackwater (18) – Deles 8, Comboy 7, Bayla 3, Publico 0.

Meanwhile, after Baser Amer’s contract was not extended, BLACKWATER made the decision to split ways with the seasoned point guard.

Amer’s prior contract with the Bossing apparently terminated at the conclusion of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a new one.

Unverified rumors claimed that Amer had been spotted at NLEX workouts. Frankie Lim, Amer’s college mentor at San Beda, is the team’s coach.

Amer, who was selected by Meralco as the seventh overall pick in 2015, wound up at the Blackwater camp following the transaction that sent Mac Belo to the Bolts in 2021.

He becomes an unrestricted free agent automatically once Blackwater leaves him unsigned.

Baser in Blackwater

The 31-year-old guard, who is frequently on the team’s injury list, seldom displayed the talent that made him a budding star at Meralco at Blackwater.

Team management sent an offer to him after his most recent contract with the Bossing expired on January 15 of last year, but neither side was able to come to an agreement that ultimately resulted in the parting of ways.