Justin Brownlee, Ginebra turn it up late to steal Game 3 from Bay Area

Justin Brownlee and Barangay Ginebra turned up the heat in the final period to eke out a comeback victory against Bay Area, 89-82, in Game 3 of their best-of-seven finals series in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Well-rested due to a six-day break, Ginebra gained the upper hand, 2-1, in the best-of-seven series. 

Trailing by as many as 14 midway through the third period and down 63-56 before the fourth, the Gin Kings came alive in the payoff period and turned things around with Brownlee igniting their offense. 

The resident import quickly converted 12 points early in the fourth to cut their deficit to just three, 75-72, in the final 5:21 before Kobey Lam countered with a personal 4-0 run to make it a seven-point advantage for the visitors. 

But Ginebra tied things up at 79 after Brownlee nailed two jumpers and veteran LA Tenorio knocked down a triple. They regained the lead after a wild putback from Scottie Thompson on a miss from Jamie Malonzo, who then buried a huge three-pointer to give Ginebra a much-needed 84-79 cushion with 50.4 ticks left in the clock. 

Brownlee trooped to the charity stripe once more and shot one free throw following a turnover from Lam. He and Tenorio then put the icing on the cake with two freebies apiece, 87-82, as the Dragons ran out of time. 

Ginebra outplayed Bay Area in the fourth period, 33 to 19, with Brownlee scoring 19 of those.

He finished with a game-high 34 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, and three steals while Thompson chimed in with 14 markers, 10 boards, four dimes, and four steals. 

Christian Standhardinger provided a spark off the bench with 15 points and four rebounds while Malonzo finished with 10 points.

Game 4 of the series is on Friday, January 6, at the same venue.

The scores:

Barangay Ginebra 89 - Brownlee 34, Standhardinger 15, Thompson 14, Malonzo 10, Tenorio 8, Pringle 5, Aguilar 3, Mariano 0, Gray 0, Pinto 0.

Bay Area 82 - Nicholson 23, Lam 17, Zhu 12, Yang 11, Blankley 10, Ewing 3, Ju 2, Song 2, Liu 2, Reid 0.

Quarters: 16-16, 35-37, 56-63, 89-82.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News