BOOSTED by a decisive second half breakaway, Ginebra tripped NLEX 112-93 yesterday to advance to the PBA Governors Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Import Justin Brownlee scattered a game-high 47 points, three shy of his pro league career best, on top of 10 rebounds and six assists, while getting ample help from the locals.
Veteran shooter Jeff Chan chipped in 20 markers on 5-of-8 shooting from deep, grabbed four boards, and issued two dimes, while LA Tenorio had 14 points.
Nards Pinto tallied 12 points and Christian Standhardinger had 10 and 11 for Ginebra, which closed won its best-of-five semifinals duel with NLEX at 3-1.
With the big win, the Kings returned to the Big Dance of the tourney after two years and will tangle with the winner of the other semis battle between Meralco and Magnolia.
Coming off a numbing 85-86 loss in Game 3 last Sunday in a match marred by endgame lapses, Ginebra bounced back strong with Brownlee showing the way.
Coach Tim Cone gushed at his resident import’s efforts that propped up Ginebra’s stunning rise from finishing No. 6 after the elimination round with a twice-to-beat disadvantage against TNT in the quarterfinals to a finals trip anew.
“Life is a lot easier when you have Justin Brownlee.,” Cone said. “What a phenomenal, phenomenal performance by Justin. I’m just amazed by it. We’ve seen that for five or six conferences now. Every time he scores, he gets amazing even more and more.”
Brownlee poured 26 of his total output in the first two quarters but the Kings were only able to take a 53-50 lead at the half.
Behind Brownlee, Standhardinger, Chan, and Tenorio, Ginebra pulled away in the third and enjoyed an 81-74 spread heading into the payoff period.
A Philip Paniamogan trey shoved the Road Warriors to within 87-95 at the 6:04 mark of the fourth but NLEX faltered from there.
A Standhardinger layup gave the Kings their biggest lead 112-93 that also stood as the final count, only 36 seconds left.
Cameron Clark paced the Road Warriors, who finished the eliminations as the second-ranked team, with 34 points and 12 rebounds, while Don Trollano contributed 15.
