TNT proved it can win even without main man Almond Vosotros around.
The Triple Giga had the numbers of rival Cavitex Braves anew, scoring an 18-16 win in the opener of the PBA 3×3 Season 3 Second Conference at the Ayala Mall Circuit in Makati on Tuesday.
The Triple Giga again went to Gryann Mendoza, who delivered eight points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field along with four rebounds that somehow softened the impact of Vosotros’ rare absence in Leg 1 of the mid-season tournament.
Samboy De Leon added five and new recruit Matt Salem – the replacement for big man Lervin Flores – had the same number of points in the win worth P100,000 for the telecommunication franchise.
The victory came two months after TNT also beat Cavitex in the grand finals of the First Conference.
The Triple Giga reached the finals undefeated after a three-game sweep of its Pool B assignments, then took down Purefoods in the quarterfinals, 19-14, before hacking out a close 22-18 win over Meralco in the semis.
Tonino Gonzaga paced Cavitex with nine points as the Braves bagged the P50,000 runner-up purse.
Cavitex arranged yet another title duel with TNT as it made short work of MCFASolver in the semis, 21-10.
In the quarterfinals, the Braves turned back the San Miguel Beermen, 21-17.
Earlier, Meralco denied guest team MCFASolver a podium finish in its first foray into the conference following a 21-13 win in the battle for third place.
Joseph Sedurifa finished with a game-high 10 points in the win worth P30,000.
The scores
Finals
TNT (18) – Mendoza 8, De Leon 5, Salem 5, Exciminiano 0.
Cavitex (16) – Gonzaga 9, Napoles 4, Ighalo 2, Magat 1.
Third place
Meralco (21) – Sedurifa 10, Manlangit 7, Batino 3, Manday 1.
MCFASolver (13) – Ramirez 7, Andrada 6, Tumalip 0.
(ai/mnm)