Bay Area avenges Game 1 loss, evens PBA Finals series vs Ginebra

The Bay Area Dragons finally got one over Barangay Ginebra, carving out a 99-82 statement win in Game 2 of their best-of-seven finals series in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum. 

Bay Area leveled the series at 1-1 ahead of Game 3 on January 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Dragons took care of business early in the first half, which saw the guest team enjoy a 52-35 lead with Andrew Nicholson and Songwei Zhu leading the way with 14 and 17 points apiece. 

But Ginebra staged a furious rally in the third after Justin Brownlee nailed a basket that brought them to a single digit deficit, 55-47, halfway through the frame before they headed to the fourth staring at a 68-60 disadvantage. 

Ginebra returned to its strength in that stretch, outscoring Bay Area in the third canto, 25 to 16, to threaten a comeback. 

Bay Area, though, kept Ginebra at bay in the payoff period as they built a lead as big as 20, 99-79, with 2:18 left in the fourth.

They never looked back since then as the Dragons finally got a win against Ginebra, which routed them during their elimination round meeting, 111-93, and 96-81 in Game 1 last Christmas Day. 

Nicholson meant business in the game, finishing with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks while Zhu had 25 markers, five boards, and six assists in the highly-physical game.

Hayden Blankley was also on point as he tallied 17 points on 70 percent shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. 

Ginebra got another solid outing from Brownlee who listed 32 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a steal but his numbers weren't enough as GInebra absorbed a lopsided loss.

The scores:

Bay Area 99 - Nicholson 30, Zhu 25, Blankley 17, Lam 11, Ju 9, Yang 5, Reid 2, Song 0, Liu 0.

Ginebra 82 - Brownlee 32, Malonzo 10, Thompson 9, Tenorio 8, Standhardinger 8, J. Aguilar 5, Pinto 5, R. Aguilar 3, Pringle 2, Gray 0, Pessumal 0, Mariano 0.

Quarters: 22-16, 52-35, 68-60, 99-82.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News