BOCAUE – Ginebra gave a masterclass to remember as it handed Bay Area a harsh 114-99 lesson in the Finals Game 7 to annex the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup title, Sunday night at the Philippine Arena here.
In a solid display of experience reigning over youth, the Kings erupted for 34 big points in the second quarter alone to enter the halftime break with a huge 61-39 lead, leaving the younger Dragons playing catch-up the rest of the way.
“Frankly, we were angry about Game Six,” said head coach Tim Cone, who extended his record to 25 crowns. “We didn’t want to go to a Game Seven.”
“We felt we had Game Six in hand, we made that nice comeback, and we felt we had it in hand, and we let it slip away. We were angry about that, and I think that anger spilled over into Game Seven,” the 65-year-old added.
The Barangay would go on to reclaim the throne they last won in 2018 to collect their 15th championship overall, in the process breaking a tie with Magnolia and Alaska to become the second-winningest franchise in league history.
And they definitely couldn’t have won and celebrated the championship any better as a record 54,589 fans trooped to the cavernous venue to watch live, easily shattering the PBA’s previous attendance record of 54,086 set in 2017.
“I really feel that they could feel the energy of the crowd, the 54,000 that were here,” said Cone. “Just from the very first basket, when Justin scored on that first basket … you could just feel the energy of the players just go up.”
Justin Brownlee led the way with 34 points, eight rebounds, and 12 assists, starring in their second-quarter breakaway as he made his intentions clear that early of winning a sixth championship in his sixth Finals appearance.
“It definitely made it maybe a bit more special than the other ones, playing against an international team, this doesn’t happen too often. It’s never happened since I’ve been here. This is the first time,” said the three-time Best Import.
Jamie Malonzo balled out as well in his first-ever championship experience, saving his best for last of the series with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Reigning MVP Scottie Thompson made 18 points and nine rebounds. Christian Standhardinger made 12 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists; Japeth Aguilar supplied 14, while LA Tenorio chipped in 10 markers.
“We kept saying in the timeouts, no one’s gonna get tired today. No one’s playing tired today. We’re just gonna battle through. And when we got that lead, I think it just kinda kept us purposeful,” said Cone as they led by as much as 28.
Myles Powell, meanwhile, led Bay Area with 29 points in the defeat. Hayden Blankley backed him up with 25 points, Liu Chuanxing supplied 17, while Kobey Lam and Glen Yang chimed in with 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
The guest team from Hong Kong will now have their sights set on the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week in March,
The Scores:
Ginebra 114 – Brownlee 34, Malonzo 22, Thompson 18, J.Aguilar 14, Standhardinger 12, Tenorio 10, Pringle 3, Gray 1, Pinto 0, Mariano 0.
Bay Area 99 – Powell 29, Blankley 25, Liu 17, Lam 13, Yang 10, Zhu 5, Reid 0, Ewing 0, Ju 0, Song 0.
Quarterscores: 27-21, 61-39, 95-74, 114-99
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
