Justin Brownlee saved the Barangay down the stretch as Ginebra snapped the unbeaten run of Magnolia, 103-97, to bounce back in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The two-time Best Import scored the Kings’ last six points, highlighted by the go-ahead stepback jumper with 1:19 left as he completed the comeback from 15 down to deal the Hotshots their first defeat after a 5-0 start.
Brownlee finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and 12 assists as the crowd darlings earned their first win over their rivals in three years while rebounding from the shock loss to Phoenix Super LPG last week.
“It’s good to win,” said coach Tim Cone. “When I left San Mig Coffee, and I went to Ginebra, I think we beat them nine or 10 times. And we really felt like we had their number. And they just completely turned the tables on us.”
Jamie Malonzo impressed in his first Clasico with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Scottie Thompson mde 14 markers, six dimes, and four boards, while Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar had 14 and 12, respectively.
The locals were indeed a big help in the rally, with Standhardinger tying things up at 89-all before Thompson and Malonzo scored a bucket apiece to put the Barangay ahead by four, 97-93, with 5:19 remaining in the game.
Magnolia, however, made it 97-all behind Paul Lee and Jio Jalalon with less than four minutes left. But Brownlee went on to take over afterwards.
Following that tiebreaking jumper, the resident import came through on the other end, blocking counterpart Nick Rakocevic with 21.2 seconds left.
He then took advantage of the Serbian big man’s deliberate foul away from the ball by nailing both of his free throws to make it a 101-97 spread, and then slammed the nail in the coffin with another set of freebies moments later.
“It was a typical Never Say Die Ginebra game in the 1990s in my opinion. I remember those. I remember being on the other side of those teams, when I was losing to those teams. So it’s great to be on this side,” said Cone.
Lee, meanwhile, led Magnolia with 22 points in the meltdown. Rakocevic had 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Ian Sangalang made 13.
The defeat also wasted the efforts of Jalalon and seldom-used guard Jerrick Ahanmisi, who both finished with 11 markers apiece.
The Scores:
Ginebra 103 – Brownlee 26, Malonzo 18, Thompson 14, Standhardinger 14, J. Aguilar 13, Pringle 6, Tenorio 5, Mariano 3, Gray 3, Pessumal 1, Pinto 0.
Magnolia 97 – Lee 22, Rakocevic 21, Sangalang 13, Ahanmisi 11, Jalalon 11, Abueva 6, Barroca 5, Dionisio 3, Dela Rosa 2, Reavis 2, Wong 1.
Quarterscores: 20-24, 41-53, 73-83, 103-97.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
