Barangay Ginebra forward Justin Brownlee. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Barangay Ginebra finished off its semifinal series against Magnolia with a 99-84 victory on Wednesday to reach the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Gin Kings drew big performances from import Justin Brownlee, Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio to complete a 3-1 series win and a trip to the championship series for the 29th time in franchise history.
Ginebra also advanced despite losing Christian Standhardinger in the first six minutes of the contest due to a Flagrant Foul 2 for throwing the ball at import Nick Rakocevic. His ejection didn’t hamper the Gin Kings, who led by as much as 24 in the second half.
“I’m so thankful that we didn’t have to play Game 5,” said coach Tim Cone, who go for a record-extending 25th championship against either guest team Bay Area or sibling rival San Miguel Beer.
Brownlee, who may have cemented his case for Best Import honors, had 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists while Aguilar stepped up in Standhardinger’s absence with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Tenorio added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for Ginebra.
Magnolia suffered a third consecutive semifinal exit following another disappointing finish for the squad which started the conference strong, but lost four of its five meetings to its “Manila Clasico” opponent.
Calvin Abueva put up 14 points while Rakocevic produced 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Hotshots.
Paul Lee saw heavy minutes after missing a huge portion of Game 3 due to fever and headache and was hardly felt with nine points and three assists.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 99 — Brownlee 24, Aguilar J. 19, Tenorio 18, Thompson 14, Malonzo 10, Pringle 5, Gray 3, Pinto 3, Mariano 2, Standhardinger 1, Pessumal 0, Aguilar R. 0.
MAGNOLIA 84 — Abueva 14, Rakocevic 13, Jalalon 12, Lee 9, Reavis 8, Barroca 7, Ahanmisi 6, Sangalang 6, Dionisio 4, Wong 3, Corpuz 2, Dela Rosa 0, Mendoza 0.
Quarters: 29-18, 53-41, 82-68, 99-84.