Platinum, TNT, J&T, Cavitex sweep foes

MANILA, Philippines — Platinum Karaoke ended a two-leg quarterfinal slump after sweeping its Pool B assignments in Leg 3 of the PBA 3x3 Season 2 Third Conference yesterday at Robinsons Antipolo.

A regular contender which struggled to a woeful ninth and 10th finishes in the first two legs, a hot-again Platinum got out of its funk and took care of business against Leg 2 runner-up Barangay Ginebra, 16-14, and Blackwater, 18-16.

The Gin Kings joined the Platinum quartet of Nico Salva, Raphael Banal, Yutien Andrada and TH Tumalip in the knockout rounds set for today after defeating Blackwater, 21-19, in their virtual KO tiff for the No. 2 position.

Also bringing out the broom and topping their respective groups were Leg 2 winner TNT (Pool A), J&T Express (Pool C) and Cavitex (Pool D).

Tropang Giga Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores, Gryann Mendoza and Samboy de Leon drubbed Pioneer, 21-12, then outsteadied Purefoods, 21-18, to grab the A-1 position.

J&T’s Joseph Sedurifa, Robin Rono, Keith Datu and Jeric Teng nipped NorthPort, 20-18, and Meralco, 17-15, for C-1 as Braves Dominick Fajardo, Jorey Napoles, Chester Saldua and Marion Magat claimed D-1 at the expense of Leg 1 ruler San Miguel Beer, 21-11, and Terrafirma, 17-14.

The Dyip earlier caught a big fish in SMB, with their 17-6 upset enough to get them to the quarterfinals as runner-up in Pool D with  a 1-1 mark and slam the door on the Beermen (0-2).

Pioneer (Pool A), the Gin Kings (Pool B) and the Bolts (Pool C) took a similar route as Terrafirma to the next phase

The Katibays benefitted from their earlier 16-14 verdict over Purefoods, Ginebra gained from its 21-19 victory over Blackwater and Meralco progressed on account of its 21-9 win over NorthPort.