Sweet revenge for Bay Area Dragons
4 min readThe Bay Area Dragons regained their rhythm and played smoothly throughout the game, striking back at Barangay Ginebra, 99-82, in Game 2 to equalize their PBA Commissioner’s Cup race-to-four finals, 1-1, before a crowd of over 16,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night, December 28.
The Bay Area Dragons avenged their Game 1 loss by beating Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup race-to-four finals, 99-82, at the jam packed Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night, December 28. PBA photos
Andrew Nicholson, Songwei Zhu, Hayden Blankley, and Kobey Lam combined for a total of 83 points, including 10 triples, for the Dragons who bounced back strong from their 96-81 Game 1 loss.
Thus foiling the Gin Kings’ bid for a two-game lead heading into the new year. The Kings, however, are still ahead at 2-1, in their past three outings in the conference.
The Dragons did not just survive the Kings’ charge but also the noise from the Barangay Ginebra die-hards as they kept their focus in the game and accomplished what they set out to do, level the series.
Bay Area Coach Brian Goorjian said they made adjustments in the defense department, which enables them to grab rebounds and take control of the game.
Goorjian said, “Tonight, we defended without fouling. We adjusted on the PBA rules, and we have to stay that way moving forward.”
The Dragons did not waste time and opportunities as they seized control of the match early on the second period, keeping the Kings at bay through the final period.
Nicholson broke free from Ginebra’s defenders, erupting with 30 points and 15 rebounds to lead the scoring for the Dragons.
Zhu chipped in 25 points, including 17 in the first half, while Blankley and Lam added 17 and 11, respectively.
“We just wanted to stay locked-in and we executed what we practiced,” Zhou said as quoted by PBA through an interpreter.
The Bay Area Dragons avenged their Game 1 loss by beating Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup race-to-four finals, 99-82, at the jam packed Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night, December 28. PBA photos
The Kings managed to trim the lead by seven from a 52-35 deficit but the fiery Dragons kept their act together, pulling away again in the last canto,
Justin Brownlee tried last ditch efforts for the Kings but he could only do so much, hitting 32 markers with 11 rebounds.
Zhu drilled in six of his 10 field-goal attempts to lead the Dragons’ first half blast, which was also highlighted by Nicholson’s 6-of-13 clip.
The formidable duo nearly outscored the Kings squad, 31-35, which struggled with a 37-percent shooting compared to the Dragons’ 51 percent during the first half.
Blankey’s buzzer-beating triple closed the first 24 minutes of play as he redeemed himself from a poor 0-of-9 showing from the arc in Game 1.
The Dragons never looked back to seal the win and keep their title hopes alive.
The Bay Area Dragons avenged their Game 1 loss by beating Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup race-to-four finals, 99-82, at the jam packed Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night, December 28. PBA photos
The boxscores:
Bay Area 99 – Nicholson 30, Zhu 25, Blankley 17, Lam 11, Ju 9, Yang 5, Reid 2, Song 0.
Ginebra 82 – Brownlee 32, Malonzo 10, Thompson 9, Tenorio 8, Standhardinger 8, Pinto 5, J.Aguilar 5, R.Aguilar 3, Pringle 2, Gray 0, Mariano 0.
Quarters: 22-16
