All eyes will be on Purefoods as it eyes for a repeat in the PBA 3×3 Lakas Ng Tatlo which resumes Saturday with the staging of Leg 5 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The Leg 4 champ consists of league top scorer Joseph Erioubu, Jed Mendoza, Pao Javelona, and Jun Bonsubre open their campaign right away by seeing action in the opening tip of a 16-game program whose schedule shifts to early morning from its previous afternoon timeslot.
The schedule change comes as games in the 5-on-5 Governors’ Cup came underway during the week and take over the late afternoon schedule.
The TJ Titans battle NorthPort Batang Pier in Pool A at 8 a.m., almost a week since winning their first title in the standalone meet at the expense of the Meralco Bolts.
Clustered with Purefoods in Pool A are Limitless Appmasters and Zamboanga Valientes, which collide in the second game at 8:25 a.m., along with Pioneer Pro Tibay.
The Bolts, who lead the team standings by virtue of their title win in Leg 2 and two runner-up finishes, head Pool B and face the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the 8:50 a.m. third game. With them in the group are Terrafirma and Cavitex.
Maiden leg winner TNT Tropang Giga, meanwhile, banner a stacked up Pool C with Platinum Karaoke, San Miguel, and Leg 3 champion Sista Super Sealers. Platinum and San Miguel open hostilities in the group at 9:15 a.m.
The two-day action serves as the penultimate leg of the tournament leading to the first ever grand finals on Dec. 29 featuring the top 10 qualified teams, where the champion franchise gets to take home the top prize of P750,000.
For podium finishes per leg, winner receives P100,000, runner-up P50,000, and third placer P30,000.
The top three teams in Pool A join the top two teams in Pools B and C to the knockout stage, while the third best teams in B and C get to meet in a sudden-death for the eighth and last quarterfinals berth.
