Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) – Barangay Ginebra stays alive i their quest for back-to-back PBA Governors’ Cup titles after convincingly ending their semifinals series against NLEX Road Warriors, 112-93, in Game 4 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Resident import Justin Brownlee was a huge factor in Ginebra’s big second half scoring attack as he finished with his playoff career-high 47 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists to lead the squad in their third finals appearance in the last four conferences.
“We’ve seen that for five or six conferences now. Everytime he scores, he gets amazing even more and more,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said on Brownlee’s performance.
Sharp shooter Jeff Chan also came on fire for the Gin Kings with 20 points, while LA Tenorio rebounded from his late game blunder in Game 3 after contributing 14 points.
After a tight first half between the two squads, Ginebra unleashed its scoring prowess in the third quarter with Brownlee spearheading the attack to pull away with a 15-point lead, 84-69, towards the end of the period.
The Road Warriors trimmed their deficit to eight points, 82-90, off a Cameron Clark layup in the 7:32 mark of the fourth canto.
But the second seed NLEX’s looming comeback was answered by sixth-seed Ginebra’s relentless shooting and intimidating defense that toppled their foes.
“We are very proud of what these guys did,” Cone lauded the Gin Kings’ all-around team effort in Game 4 despite still missing reliable big man Japeth Aguilar in the lineup due to injury.
Ginebra had a hard climb towards achieving their return trip to the finals as they needed to overcome the twice-to-beat disadvantage against TNT Tropang Giga in the quarterfinals.
Clark bowed out of his NLEX campaign with 34 points, while Don Trollano produced 15 points.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 112 – Brownlee 47, Chan 20, Tenorio 14, Pinto 12, Standhardinger 10, Thompson 4, Tolentino 3, Devance 2, R. Aguilar 0
NLEX 93 – Clark 34, Trollano 15, Chua 10, Paniamogan 9, Alas 6, Rosales 5, Ighalo 5, Soyud 4, Semerad 3, Quinahan 2, Miranda 0
Quarterscores: 22-22, 53-50, 84-71, 112-93
