PLATINUM Karaoke lost no time booking a berth in the Leg 3 knockout stage of the Philippine Basketball Association 3×3 Third Conference Season 2 on Thursday.
Coach Anton Altamirano and his boys swept their Pool B group stage to make the quarterfinals for the first time this conference.
Platinum opened its campaign with a 16-14 win over Barangay Ginebra, and then followed it up by downing Blackwater, 18-16, at the Robinsons Place Antipolo.
The team’s 2-0 slate made it the top seed in its pool and will meet Terrafirma in the quarterfinals.
Leg 2 winner TNT also finished with a 2-0 record in Pool A to likewise advance, so did J&T Express and Cavitex, which likewise scored similar 2-0 records in topping their respective groups.
The Tropang Giga made short work of Pioneer Elastoseal, 21-12, before pulling off a close one against Purefoods, 21-18, as big man Lervin Flores scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Express disposed NorthPort, 20-18, and Meralco, 17-15, in a pair of close games in Pool C, while the Braves routed the Beermen, 21-11, and defeated the Dyip, 17-14, in Pool D.
Purefoods took the second seed in Pool A with a 1-1 slate behind a 16-14 win over Pioneer (0-2), even as Barangay Ginebra (1-1) beat out Blackwater (0-2) for the other playoffs berth in Pool B, 21-19.
San Miguel, the opening leg champion, failed to get past the pool stage with a 0-2 record, its bid obviously hurt by a 17-16 heartbreaker against Terrafirma for the no. 2 spot in Pool D.
Meralco’s 21-9 whipping of winless NorthPort (0-2) clinched for the Bolts the second seed in Pool C.
The three quarterfinals pairing on Friday will see the Tropang Giga battling the Bolts, the Express taking on the Elastoseal Katibays, and the Braves facing the Kings.
The champion team will take home the top prize of P100,000, while the runner up gets the consolation purse of P50,000, and P30,000 goes to the third placer.