By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Limitless Appmasters put a fitting end to their tremendous journey after winning the first-ever 2021 PBA 3×3 grand champion title against the talented Platinum Karaoke, 18-16.
Fresh off another milestone of becoming the first PBA 3×3 team to clinch back-to-back leg championships, the rolling Limitless team made sure they would claim the 750k-pesos grand pot.
However, the job was not easy for the champions as the ever-consistent Platinum team played their hearts out and battled until the end of the buzzer.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser was once again an unstoppable force for Limitless as he led the team in scoring in the paint with a total of seven big points.
Limitless’ dominance and chemistry were evident early in the match as they took control of the tempo immediately for a 14-7 lead.
Reymar Caduyac and Marvin Hayes also played big roles for Limitless as they put on one of their most efficient performances in the 3×3 finals stage, scoring five and four points, respectively.
However, Limitless’ lead suddenly evaporated when the dynamic duo of Chris de Chavez and Karl Dehesa clicked to tie the ball game at 16-all.
With 32.8 seconds left, Jorey Napoles gave Limitless a one-point cushion, 17-16, as he split his two shots from the charity stripe after getting fouled by Dehesa.
Dehesa tried to make up for his foul but his fading jump shot was off the ring that gave another stop for the Limitless squad.
Caduyac then iced the game and scored the final point of the heated finals match after driving against the defense of De Chavez.
“It always feels good when your hard work pays off. And we worked really hard to get this. And we did this three times in a row. It’s unprecedented. I’m just so proud of everybody here,” said Ganuelas-Rosser.
