WATCH: Purefoods vs Meralco [PBA 3×3 | 3rd Conf. Leg 6 | Semifinals | June 26, 2022]

Purefoods completed a long trek back to the top with a vengeful 20-16 victory over multi-leg winner TnT in the battle for Leg 6 top honors in the PBA 3×3 Third Conference Sunday at Robinsons Place Manila.

Joseph Eriobu turned in an 11-point sizzler in the leg finale, highlighting his heroics with three two-pointers that helped the hot-starting Titans seize a comfortable 14-6 spread against the Tropang Giga.

Jed Mendoza (four points), Jun Bonsubre (three) and Marvin Hayes (two) complemented Eriobu’s stellar outing as Purefoods secured its first leg win since reigning supreme back in Leg 4 of the First Conference.

It was also sweet revenge for the Titans for their previous defeat to the Tropang Giga in the Conference 3 Leg 3 finale and the quarterfinals of the last week’s fifth leg.

“Sabi ko sa kanila, kung sino’ng mas gutom na team, yun ang mananalo dito. Nag-commit naman lahat sila sa game para makuha namin ito,” said Hayes, the most seasoned in the squad, having previously suited up for First Conference champion Limitless and the bronze-winning Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 in the Southeast Asian Games.

TnT’s Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores, Samboy de Leon and Ping Exciminiano settled for the P50,000 runner-up purse but remained the most bemedalled crew of the season-ending conference with triumphs in the first, third and fourth legs plus two second place finishes.

Purefoods prevailed over Platinum Karaoke in the quarterfinals, 21-15, and Meralco in the semifinals, 19-17, to reach their second leg finale of the conference.

The scores:

Purefoods TJ Titans 19 – Eriobu 7, Mendoza 7, Bonsubre 3, Hayes 2.

Meralco Bolts 17 – Gonzaga 8, Maiquez 5, Batino 3, Espanola 1.