Make it a double celebration for Justin Brownlee.
The newly-crowned Best Import powered Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a 130-100 destruction of San Miguel Beermen to tie the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals series at two games apiece, Friday night at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-4 5/8 forward, the shortest import ever to win the Commissioner’s Cup Best Import award, produced 37 points on 15-of-18 shooting along with 11 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, and two steals in 36 minutes.
Brownlee scored nine in the first quarter, where the Barangay started to control the game through a 17-0 opener, which matches the best start in the Finals first made by TNT KaTropa in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup title bout.
The Gin Kings never had to worry from that point on, as the Beermen could not gather themselves and put out attacks. Ginebra’s lead ballooned to as huge as 38 points, 123-85, after Prince Caperal’s lay-up with 5:11 left in the game.
“That was strange. It has been a strange series. I don’t think we’ve seen one like this before,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone of the blowouts.
“I think what happens is we got two explosive teams. If you allow one team to get momentum, it’s really hard to break because they are that good. The team that can grab momentum is the team that can get it rolling so far.”
Unlike in Game Three, Brownlee got plenty of support this time around. Greg Slaughter led the locals with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Joe Devance provided 18 points. LA Tenorio supplied 17 markers and six dimes.
Arwind Santos led the defending champions with 22 points. Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo had 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Christian Standhardinger chipped in 15 markers as well with seven caroms.
Game Five is on Sunday, August 5, still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Ginebra 130 – Brownlee 37, Slaughter 19, Devance 18, Tenorio 17, Mercado 9, Aguilar 8, Thompson 7, Caperal 7, Chan 4, Mariano 2, Manuel 2, Caguioa 0, Cruz 0, Ferrer 0.
San Miguel 100 – Santos 22, Fajardo 15, Standhardinger 15, Balkman 14, Cabagnot 13, Nabong 6, Lassiter 4, Pessumal 4, Heruela 3, Ross 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Mamaril 0.
Quarterscores: 39-21, 67-52, 97-75, 130-100.
