PBA: Brownlee stars as Ginebra pulls away from Phoenix

MANILA, April 13 ------ Barangay Ginebra caught fire late in the game to beat the Phoenix Fuelmasters in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup 109-96, behind the heroics of Justin Brownlee at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Gin Kings rallied in the second half after being down by as much as 11 points against a hot-shooting Fuelmasters squad. After scoring just nine points in the first half, Brownlee sparked the offense for Ginebra with 8:32 left in the payoff period. The Ginebra import scored 10 points in their 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to put them ahead of Phoenix, 93-85.

Import James Dickey III stopped the bleeding for his team with a dunk, 93-87, but the Fuelmasters struggled to convert in the endgame. Brownlee dished out the pass to RJ Abarrientos, who drilled the dagger from downtown to seal the game for their team, 109-92, with 27 seconds left to play. "This is a great win because we're coming off a really tough Magnolia game. We had a really short turnaround and Phoenix have been out for a week. So they came out with tremendous energy, they hit shots all over the place," Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said during the post-game press conference.

The champion mentor lauded their bench players for stepping up, giving the starters to recover in time for the final frame. "I thought the key to the game was really when Ralph [Cu], Nards [Pinto] and Sonny [Estil] came on the floor and really gave us a boost offensively. And that allowed other guys to rest like RJ [Abarrientos] and Scottie [Thompson] for a while. Being able to do that allowed us to play an energetic fourth quarter," Cone said. "These kinds of games are character games, I think. They really show the character of the team," he added.

Brownlee said he had to dig deep to get the win for Ginebra, just like he did against the Magnolia Hotshots. "Phoenix has been having some success so it was tough tonight. I just gotta give a lot of credit to the import. He had a huge game as well for them. He did a lot for them on both ends of the floor," he said. "It's good to get some momentum. And hopefully we can ride this momentum and keep going," Brownlee shared.

The game was briefly paused due to smoke inside the Big Dome but was quickly resumed after being checked by officials. "I didn't even see it in the beginning, I didn't even recognize it until they stopped. And then they pointed to the smoke and I was like wow. You can smell it throughout the game. We love our basketball, nobody left," Cone said.

The Gin Kings have now won back-to-back games, putting them at a 4-2 record, while the Fuelmasters slide to a 3-3 slate. Phoenix will take on the Blackwater Bossing on April 17, while next up for Ginebra is Terrafirma Dyip on April 18 at the Ynares Center in Montalban.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com