Purefoods’ repeat bid is off to a rousing start after sweeping its matches in Day 1 of the PBA 3×3 inaugurals’ fifth leg, Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Champions of the previous leg, the Tender Juicy Titans went 3-0 in Pool A to become the first team to clinch a spot in the knockout quarterfinals.
They began their day with a 21-19 escape of NorthPort thanks to the heroics of league-leading scorer Joseph Eriobu, who finished with 12 points.
Zamboanga Valientes became their next victim, needing only a little over six minutes to extend the guest team’s winless skid by way of a 21-6 drubbing.
Purefoods then capped off their Day 1 run by sneaking past Pioneer ProTibay, 21-20, thanks again to Eriobu’s nine-point outing – including the game-winner.
As impressive as they’ve been in Leg 5 thus far, though, the squad mentored by Tonyboy Espinosa aren’t sitting atop their pool alone.
There’s also Limitless App, who’s off to a great start as well as it also finished the day with three wins in as many games.
A semifinalist in Leg 4, the Appmasters dealt Zamboanga a 22-7 waylaying to open their campaign. Jorey Napoles led the assault with 10 points.
They beat Pioneer, 21-13, behind the eight of Reymar Caduyac. Then they took down the Batang Pier 22-10 as Napoles matched their foes’ output.
Purefoods and Limitless will dispute the Pool A top seed tomorrow at 8:50 a.m.
Sitting at third in the pool is Pioneer with a 1-2 record. NorthPort (1-3) and Zamboanga (0-3) are already out of contention.
The Valientes have yet to win a game and are currently 0-19.
Meanwhile, consistent finalists Meralco and contenders Terrafirma both spearhead Pool B as they sport identical 2-0 cards.
The Bolts nearly got upset by the Jollo Go-powered Ginebra, but went on to escape with a 19-18 victory. Joseph Sedurifa led the way with seven points.
Then it was veteran Tonino Gonzaga who shone brightly against CAVITEX, dropping eight markers to tow his side to a 21-19 squeaker.
The Dyip, on the other hand, dominated the Barangay by way of a 21-11 beatdown that saw Terrence Tumalip outscore their foes with 13 points.
But they had to rely on a bit of luck against the Braves, erasing a slim deficit before sneaking away with a 20-19 win.
Meralco and Terrafirma will face off tomorrow at 8:25 AM. Meanwhile, Ginebra and CAVITEX will vie for the third seed at 9:40 AM.
Ultimately, Platinum Karaoke emerged as the only unbeaten team in Pool C with a 2-0 card after conquering San Miguel and TNT.
The guest team had to overcome a slow 8-1 start versus the Beermen before leaving with a 22-20 victory. Chris De Chavez led his side with 12 points.
De Chavez once again starred for Platinum against the Tropang Giga, dropping 10 markers in their 21-16 victory.
Sitting at second in the pool is San Miguel, and then Sista. Both sport similar 1-1 cards, but SMB dealt the Super Sealers a 21-11 whipping.
At the bottom is Leg 4 third-placers TNT (0-2), who tweaked its lineup by subbing in bruiser Chris Javier for Martin Gozum.
Day 2 of the fifth leg will start tomorrow at 8:00 AM, with six more pool games taking place before the knockout stages at 10:30 AM.
