Justin Brownlee, known to many for his late-game heroics, nearly downed San Miguel Alab Pilipinas during Game One of the ABL Finals.
With the game on the line, Brownlee was on the stripe with a chance to tie the game at 121 with 4.2 seconds left. But he wasted that chance, as both of his freebies did not meet the bottom of the net.
But Brownlee was able to secure the second miss, as he rose for the offensive board all over Mono Vampire BC and went up for a putback. But even that point-blank shot of his had no luck, as the ball only kissed the rim.
“I’m still knocking myself about it,” rued the 29-year-old.
Luckily for him, his tag team partner Renaldo Balkman was in the right place at the right time. The Puerto Rican forward got the rebound, cleaned it up, and did what Brownlee wasn’t able to do: tie the match and send it to overtime.
“Balkman, he was there for me,” said a grateful Brownlee.
The Tifton, Georgia native then made up for his late fourth quarter woes in the extra period. He strapped Alab in his back, scoring 10 of the home team’s 22 points in OT to deliver the 143-130 win and the early lead in the series.
The famed Barangay Ginebra San Miguel import finished with 46 points, setting the record for the most points produced in an ABL Finals game. He also added 11 rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and a block to his name.
Asked what led him to take over in OT, Brownlee said that he simply took advantage of the given circumstances: Mono’s 7-foot-5 mountain Sam Deguara was not there in extra time, as he had fouled out with four ticks left in the fourth.
“He fouled out, so coach told us we gotta attack the rim,” he said.
“Early on we weren’t doing a good job — we were looking for fouls and we weren’t finishing strong — so definitely without him in the game, I just tried to attack the basket and tried to create for my team,” added the 6-foot-5 scorer.
Brownlee may have been the brightest star on Sunday night, but he didn’t take all the spotlight onto himself. He deflected the credit to his teammates, and that Game One’s win was a showcase of Alab’s character and chemistry.
“We’re a team that depends on each other. We know one man can’t do it,” the two-time PBA champion said. “I missed the two free throws and the putback, but Balkman and even the other guys was there fighting. And that’s the character of our team.
“We just wanna continue to build on that with that chemistry and playing together. Hopefully we continue to do that.”
