Jorey Napoles came through with the clutch baskets down the stretch as Cavitex turned back upset-conscious Blackwater, 20-18, to clinch the final leg of the PBA 3×3 Third Conference Season 3 late Tuesday night, Feb. 6, at the Ayala Malls Market Market.
Napoles came through with 13 points for the Braves, none more important than the last three baskets of the team which finally copped a leg championship for the first time this conference.
The former 3×3 national team member scored on consecutive layups to give Cavitex the lead for good, 19-18, before adding another free throw for the clincher worth P100,000.
Kenneth Ighalo had four points and Bong Galanza and Clint Doliguez round out the scoring for Cavitex of coach Kyles Lao.
“Ito yung brand ng NLEX basketball,” claimed Napoles afterwards. “Kasi nung eliminations, 50-50 kami talaga. Puwede kaming ma-out kaya hinintay pa namin yung game ng Purefoods and MCFASolver.”
Cavitex barely made it to the knockout stage as it struggled during the group phase and waited until the outcome of the MCFASolver-Purefoods knockout match – which the Titans won – before it was assured of a quarterfinals berth.
But the Braves was a different team come the playoffs, axing Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals, 21-17, before eliminating Leg 5 champion TNT in the semis, 18-16, to reach the championship round of the conference for the first time.
Blackwater however, proved to be a tough customer for them.
The Smooth Razor actually had the Braves on the ropes, 18-17, with 74 seconds to go when Napoles finally took matters into his own hands.
The runner up finish worth P50,000 for Blackwater was the first in franchise history and a good momentum build up leading to the grand finals two weeks from now.
In the battle for third, TNT defeated Meralco, 21-16, to take home the P30,000 prize money.
