Bolts punch quarters ticket

Serious in its bid to score a first ever hat trick in franchise history, Meralco lost no time in clinching a quarterfinals berth in Leg 5 of the Philippine Basketball Association 3×3 Third Conference on Monday.

Sans big man Alfred Batino, the Bolts hardly lost a step as they finished their group phase campaign with a 2-0 sweep of Pool A at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.

Guard Jeff Manday again waxed hot for the team which he led to a 21-9 rout of Northport, and later on scored a 17-15 grind out win over Cavitex.

Meralco is eyeing a third straight championship in the 3×3 game after winning three of the first four legs of the conference, including back-to-back victories the last two weeks.

Despite the loss to the Bolts, the Braves still made it to the next round as they dealt the Batang Pier with a 21-11 loss.

Northport bowed out of contention with a 0-2 record.

The Bolts and Braves are so far the only team which secured berths in the knockout stage as the eight other teams from Pool B and C are still disputing the remaining six quarterfinal tickets as of press time.

TNT appeared to have a clear view of reaching the next round after capping their Pool B campaign with a best record of 2-1.

The Tropang Giga won their first two outings against San Miguel (21-12) and Pioneer Elastoseal (22-20) but was ambushed by Purefoods (21-19) in their final game.