May 26, 2017

Brownlee regains touch in time as Ginebra eliminates Blackwater

Barangay Ginebra struggled through the first 40 minutes before getting into the groove to zoom to a 96-82 win over Blackwater that bolstered the Gins Kings’ Top Two quest in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna Friday night.

Justin Brownlee, LA Tenorio, Mark Caguioa and Sol Mercado got the team to a blazing windup as the Gin Kings weathered the Elite’s tough resistance and inched closer to clinching a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win-loss card.

Blackwater, meanwhile, eventually bombed out of playoff race with an eighth loss against only two wins.

The Kings were holding a precarious 67-65 lead early in the fourth before hitting their strides and coming through with a decisive closing flurry.

“We wanted to gather rhythm in the first half but we just couldn’t do it. Then we put a lot of ball pressure and we got going,” said Brownlee.

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Despite a little less numbers, the Ginebra import won his personal battle with Blackwater counterpart Greg Smith in the end, helping through the Kings in the absence of injury-hit top forward Joe Devance.

“Anything can happen in every game. In this game without Joe (Devance), it’s about the next man up mentality of coach Tim Cone. And a lot of guys stepped up and played well,” said Brownlee.

Brownlee had an alarming long scoreless spell in the third period but regained his touch to lead the way for the Kings in the payoff quarter.

He finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds and five assists against five turnovers.
Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar helped pick up the slack in the absence of Devance, with the two combining for 32 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

The Elite dragged the Kings to a battle in the first three quarters, even leading by eight at 57-49 late in the third.
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That’s before Brownlee scored his first basket in the second half to spark a run that shoved Ginebra ahead, 65-62, going into the final canto.

Then Tenorio, Caguioa and Mercado joined the fray.

Tenorio fired bombs from afar while Caguioa and Mercado struck on transition offense as the Kings went on a rampage and blew the game open at 87-73.