Jorey Napoles drilled a game-winning basket as CAVITEX Braves scored its breakthrough in the PBA 3×3 title with a 21-19 beating of San Miguel Beermen in the Leg 2 finals on Sunday at the Robinsons Novaliches.
With CAVITEX clinging to a 20-19 lead, Napoles knocked down the clutch floater against the Beermen defense to lift the franchise to its first-ever leg title after previously finishing just runner up.
Napoles finished with seven points to backstop Pedrito Galanza’s eight markers and the combined six points of Chester Saldua and Dominick Fajardo as the NLEX bagged the top prize of P100,000.
However, the victory nearly got out of CAVITEX hands as they squandered an early eight-point advantage as the Beermen went on a massive run to cut the deficit to 19-20 with 1:36 left.
The Beermen even had a chance to snatch the leg championship but Ken Bono and Wendell Comboy misfired on their outside attempts before Napoles ended the match with a conversion.
Comboy finished the finale with 10 points, Bono chipped in five markers, while Jeffrey Manday and Alfonso Gotladera combined for four points as the Beermen settled for a runner-up finish and P50,000 cash prize.
TNT of Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores, Samboy de Leon and Chris Exciminiano completed the podium finishers as it beat Meralco in the battle for third place, 20-17. The Tropang Giga netted P30,000.
