BROWNLEE, GINEBRA ENDED BAY AREA WINNING STREAK
5 min readJUSTIN Brownlee lived up to his billing as he and Barangay Ginebra ended the four-game winning streak of Bay Area Dragons in a rousing 111-93 win on Sunday, October 10, 2022, as the PBA Commissioner’s Cup resumed 0at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
He sizzled with 46 points, including 17 during their third-quarter breakaway en route to grabbing their second straight win after three outings and spoiling NBA veteran Andrew Nicholson’s PBA debut.
Brownlee, a five-time PBA champ and two-time Best Import awardee, starred for the Gin Kings after the break as Ginebra put up a 35-18 rally in the third period to tame the unbeaten Dragons.
He was sent to rest with over five minutes remaining in the game and the Gin Kings were ahead, 100-77.
Brownlee outshined his collegiate rival in their first PBA encounter.
“It’s great to see him,” Brownlee said.
Brownlee and other firepower
Jamie Malonzo chipped in 17 markers while Christian Standhardinger canned 10 points on top of 10 rebounds, and Scottie Thompson had eight baskets with 11 boards as the rest of the Ginebra crew contributed in the defense department to limit the Dragons to a double-digit performance from their usual triple digit output.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone said, “That’s certainly the best part of what we did tonight – playing defense.” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Although six-foot-10 Nicholson, who substituted for Myles Powell, started strong, he eventually lost steam, accounting for 28 points with 12 rebounds in his 32-minute play.
The Gin Kings wore him out as planned. “It’s tough playing the first game and we really hoped we could wear him out,” said the decorated coach Cone who was pleased with the impressive showing of Standhardinger and the efforts of Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray, who also made his debut with Ginebra after he was acquired from Terrafirma through a recent trade.
He said, “Jamie is fun to watch running the floor and it’s fun to see a glimpse of Gray.”
Gray finished with five points and three rebounds after seeing action for 10 minutes.
Diamond Stone lifted SMB
Meanwhile, Diamond Stone lifted San Miguel Beer’s 113-105 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in another game.
Stone proved to be a formidable import, erupting with 42 points and 13 rebounds to make a strong statement after his 20-point and eight-rebound performance in San Miguel’s loss to the Blackwater, 106-109, last week.
June Mar Fajardo sank 21 points with eight boards, four assists, and two blocks as CJ Perez also delivered when the Beermen needed him the most, drilling in 13 points with six rebounds, and three assists.
“I thought I’d adjusted well. Coach (Leo Austria) did a great job this week after the first game of getting me adjusted, getting me the plays,” Stone said. “Coach told me before the game, in practice,’ Don’t be shy, be aggressive and so that’s what I did today. You know, try to be aggressive and try to go for the win.”
Austria said Stone struggled in his first game as he had not practiced with the team. “He doesn’t know his team, he doesn’t know our system, and worse he doesn’t know the kind of basketball we have here,” the veteran coach said. “But I’m happy today with his game. It seems he realized na (that) he needs to perform.”
Rain or Shine, for its part, leaned on import Steve Taylor who had 20 points, 18 boards, and nine assists. However, he could only convert one of his eight field goals in the second half as the Elasto Painters snapped their two-game winning streak, dropping their record to 2-2.
Rey Nambatac added 19 points while Santi Santillan and Gian Mamuyac added 15 and 13, respectively. With SMB’s 11-0 surge for a 105-95 advantage, the efforts of Rain or Shine’s Anton Asistio, Andrei Caracut, and Jewel Ponferrada went down the drain.
The Box Score:
Barangay Ginebra 111 – Brownlee 46, Malonzo 17, Standhardinger 11, Pringle 10, Thompson 8, Gray 5, J. Aguilar 5, Pessumal 3, Tenorio 2, Pinto 2, Onwubere 2, R. Aguilar 0, Mariano 0.
Bay Area 93 – Nicholson 28, Yang 15, Lam 13, Ewing 8, Blankley 8, Liu 8, Si 4, Zhu 2, Zhang 2, Ju 0, Liang 0, Song 0.
Quarters: 26-28; 50-48; 85-66; 111-93.
San Miguel 113 – Stone 42, Fajardo 21, Perez 13, Herndon 8, Cruz 7, Manuel 7, Enciso 6, Lassiter 6, Ross 3, Tautuaa 0.
Rain or Shine 105 – Taylor Jr. 20, Nambatac 19, Santillan 15, Mamuyac 13, Caracut 11, Asistio 11, Ponferrada 10, Belga 3, Demusis 3, Norwood 0, Borboran 0.
Quarters: 29-24, 61-59, 85-85, 113-105.
