Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings edged the Meralco Bolts, 82-79, to even up their best-of-seven series in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Finals on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee paced Ginebra with 32 markers, while Sol Mercado chipped in with 12 of his own.
There was little to separate the two teams after the halftime break, with the Bolts taking a slim 44-43 into the third quarter.
The Gin Kings finally got into a rhythm into the third frame and pushed their lead to as much as 48-63 off a Sol Mercado triple.
But the Bolts would not be outdone, and slowly chipped away at the lead before a Cliff Hodge trey gave them a 76-75 advantage with 4:21 left to play in regulation.
Read: PBA Finals: Durham powers Meralco to Game 1 victory over Ginebra
Brownlee and Hodge traded buckets for their respective sides, which resulted in both teams going into the last two minute mark tied at 79-apiece.
With 28.2 ticks left to play, Mercado gobbled up an errant LA Tenorio attempt before converting a bucket to give the Gin Kings a precious 81-79 cushion.
The Bolts gave the ball to import Allen Duham, who failed to hit the game-tying bucket.
Meralco was given a lifeline after Tenorio missed a free throw, gifting them possession with 13.4 left on the clock.
Durham and Hodge both had opportunities to level the scores, but were unable to hit the mark.
Durham and Hodge led the Bolts with 22 and 16 points, respectively.
Read: Barangay Ginebra pummels San Miguel, returns to PBA Finals for first time in three years
After the game, Ginebra coach Tim Cone praised his team’s improved defensive effort in Game 2.
“Your defense is your constant,” Cone said. “That is why we hang our hat on our defense.”
Cone also emphasized how important the game was for the Gin Kings, describing it as a ‘must win.’
“We couldn’t go down 0-2,” Cone added. “They had won four games in a row, so their momentum was really strong. We knew we had to reach really really deep to break their momentum.”
Barangay Ginebra and Meralco Bolts will do battle again in Game 3 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
