Brownlee saves Ginebra

Scottie Thomson of Ginebra fakes a shot off Chris Exciminiano of Alaska during their game Sunday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Justin Brownlee, in a sequence quite reminiscent of the one when he led Barangay Ginebra in snapping an eight-year title wait, delivered yet again and saved the Gin Kings from what could have been a painful loss.

Brownlee completed a 3-point play with 7.2 seconds remaining and keyed a 103-102 Ginebra nipping of Alaska that kept the Gin Kings well in the hunt for a top two berth in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“It was almost scripted for Alaska to win,” the multititled Ginebra coach Tim Cone said after his boys—without the benefit of a timeout in the last six minutes—wiped out a 6-point deficit with just over three minutes left to win for the fifth straight game and rise to 5-1, tying sister team San Miguel Beer in second spot.

“Luckily, Justin made a great drive,” Cone said of his import, who hit a trey at the buzzer of Game 6 in the Governors’ Cup Finals last season that had Ginebra turning back Meralco.

“Justin being Justin, he’s just such an intelligent player. He always seems to make the right play at the right time.”

Brownlee finished with 37 points and looked like he got away with a foul when he clipped Alaska counterpart Corey Jefferson’s shooting hand in the next Alaska play that helped doom the Aces to a third straight loss in a 4-3 card.

“I think we played a lot better tonight than we did in our first four wins,” Alaska’s Alex Compton said in consoling himself and his crew. “I always look for improvement in the way we play. We didn’t play great today, but we played good.”

Still, the loss practically put a twice-to-beat privilege out of reach for the Aces, with Meralco at 7-1. TNT KaTropa also has a better record, 5-2, compared with the Aces.

Joe Devance had 12 points and three others tossed in 10 or more for Cone, while Vic Manuel made his return to active duty and scored 13.

Earlier, Reden Celda tied his career-high with 18 points and new recruit Glenn Khobuntin played the game of his young pro career as they led Mahindra to a 96-87 nipping of Blackwater that fanned the flickering playoff hopes of the Floodbuster.

Celda and Khobuntin came off the bench and pumped life in Mahindra’s sagging confidence as the Floodbuster snapped a five-game losing streak and mathematically stayed in the hunt after rising to 2-6 overall and dealing the Elite a big hit as far as their chances are concerned.

Mahindra coach Chris Gavina is just thrilled at the promise of the new composition of the team that he has after getting Khobuntin and Eric Camson in a trade with NLEX less than a week ago.

“Coming into this game, our energy was revived and refreshed,” Gavina said. “Glenn (Khobuntin) and Eric (Camson) really brought in quickly (to the team system). They have had just three days with us, but they had an immediate impact.”