By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Negrense hoops sensation Jeff Manday pulled off a solid outing to help the Meralco Bolts claim the PBA 3×3 Leg 1 championship title last December 12, 2023.
The flashy Bacolodnon tallied five big points during Meralco’s 15-13 grand finals victory over the MCFASOLVER Tech Centrale and was the catalyst when the Bolts trailed early in the championship game.
After Meralco went down with an early one-point deficit, 4-5, Manday was quickly subbed into the game to provide the much-needed offensive spark for the Bolts.
Manday then paid off the trust his coaches gave him after immediately letting his presence felt with a three-pointer from the left elbow.
After hoisting a trey that put the Bolts up by a point, the former Colegio de Santa Ana de Victorias superstar followed it up with a blow-by layup.
The Bolts then started to take full control of the game after Manday’s explosive entry into the game and was also efficient in dishing out assists to his teammates.
With the win, Manday and Meralco were able to avenge their loss at the hands of the TNT Tropang Giga during the past leg’s conference championship.
Meralco was close to dethroning the Tropang Giga but the breaks of the game went TNT’s way during the nip-and-tuck overtime period.
Manday and his team ended up with a 100,000 pesos grand prize after taking down MCFASOLVER and are eager to add more titles in the next PBA 3×3 tournament legs.
