Barangay Ginebra forward Justin Brownlee challenges the defense of Bay Area Dragons center Liu Chuanxing during Game 3 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at Mall of Asia Arena. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Barangay Ginebra pulled off a signature comeback in the final four minutes to stun Bay Area, 89-82, and grab a 2-1 lead in the resumption of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Gin Kings turned to Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson during a big windup to steal Game 3 away from the Dragons, who at one point led by 14 and were up 79-72 in the payoff period, and move two wins away from another championship.
2:36 4q Brownlee ties it at 79. #PBAFinals #PBAGameTayoDito pic.twitter.com/8QzhqOYRkN
— PBA (@pbaconnect) January 4, 2023
Brownlee hit 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter despite a 9-of-24 shooting and Thompson had 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals as Ginebra delighted most of the 15,004 fans who filled the Pasay City venue.
“Nothing was working for us today. We’re not hitting shots [and] we’re making a lot of defensive mistakes,” said coach Tim Cone. “But we just kept working, look for something positive to happen, and you’ll feel it. We’re just looking for a spark.”
OH MY GOODNESS SCOTTIE
Lamang na ang Ginebra, 81-79!#PBAFinals#PBAGameTayoDito pic.twitter.com/9I7g1UwDql
— PBA (@pbaconnect) January 4, 2023
Game 4 is set on Friday at the same venue, with Bay Area, a picture of disappointment after letting a win slip away, pondering on its import situation after Andrew Nicholson hurt his left leg late in the contest.
Nicholson had 23 points and 24 rebounds.
Glen Yang, Kobey Lam and Hayden Blankley impressed once again for Bay Area, but the guest team for the midseason conference couldn’t finish the job much to the disappointment of coach Brian Goorjian.
50.4 4q WAAAAAAAHHHH MALONZO BAAAAAAANG!
84-79 Ginebra lead. #PBAGameTayoDito #PBAFinals pic.twitter.com/Ewdd8get8P
— PBA (@pbaconnect) January 4, 2023
Bay Area was up 79-72 after Lam’s basket, but Ginebra scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead.
Brownlee had four points sandwiched by an LA Tenorio three. Thompson scored a putback for 81-79 before finding Jamie Malonzo, who knocked down a triple to make it 84-79 with 50.4 seconds to go.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 89 — Brownlee 34, Standhardinger 15, Thompson 14, Malonzo 10, Tenorio 8, Pringle 5, Aguilar J. 3, Mariano 0, Gray 0, Pinto 0.
BAY AREA 82 — Nicholson 23, Lam 17, Zhu 12, Yang 11, Blankley 10, Ewing 3, Ju 2, Liu 2, Song 2, Reid 0.
Quarters: 16-16, 35-37, 56-63, 89-82.