In what seemed to be another dogfight heading into the final frame, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel found their rhythm in the final frame offensively to pull away in a 85-72 win over the NLEX Road Warriors to close out Wednesday’s doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee notched a double-double with 24 points and 15 rebounds while floor general Scottie Thompson stuffed the stat sheets with eight points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
“We didn’t play well offensively during the first half but we did a good job defending Walker,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said. “The guys stepped up and we got our offense clicking in the second half and it worked for us.”
Ginebra led by a point entering the final twelve minutes of action. However, the team flipped the switch and turned the slow-scoring affair into a 30-point final quarter. The run was ignited by back-to-back threes by Justin Brownlee, while limiting their opponents to only five points in the first six minutes of the canto.
By the seven minute mark, Joe Devance knocked down another three-ball that extended their lead to a dozen at 71-59. At that point, NLEX failed to gather one last rally to stop Ginebra’s momentum.
Coach Tim Cone’s squad outrebounded the Road Warriors, 51-49, despite not having Greg Slaughter in the game. He pointed out after the game that the team slugged it out and commended his boys for turning a poor first half to a blazing finish en route to the win.
“If you play well, you develop character. We’re heartbroken about Paul (Harris) but good thing Justin (Brownlee) was available,” Cone added. “He can do a lot of things and I really like him on the defensive side of the floor.”
Ginebra also had more points in the paint, 36-32 and their defense forced the Road Warriors to only a 33 percent clip from the floor at 27/80.
Three more Ginebra players finished in double-figures with Japeth Aguilar punching in 14 points, five rebounds and five rejections.
For the losing Road Warriors, who suffered their second straight setback, Henry Walker poured 18 to pace the team, but needed 17 shots for it. Sean Anthony chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss of the bench.
NLEX did not have the services of Asi Taulava after the big man served his one-game suspension after an incident with San Miguel’s David Semerad in their last outing.
Ginebra San Miguel (2-1) will have the Meralco Bolts (2-1) in its next assignment in the tournament’s first out of town game at Lucena on Saturday at 5:30pm. On the other end, NLEX (1-2) looks to snap their losing streak against the Tropang TNT (2-0) on August 3 at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Ginebra (85) – Brownlee 24, Aguilar 14, Devance 10, Tenorio 10, Thompson 8, Ellis 4, Marcelo 4, Mariano 4, Caguioa 4, Mercado 3.
NLEX (72) – Walker 18, Anthony 14, Villanueva J. 9, Lanete 8, Villanueva E. 5, Baracael, Reyes 4, Akl 3, Forrester 0.
Quarterscores: 16-14, 40-36, 55-54, 85-72
