Barangay Ginebra holds off Bay Area comeback to move a win from Comm's Cup title

Barangay Ginebra avoided a late game meltdown and took down the undermanned Bay Area Dragons, 101-91, in Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Bay Area was playing sans import Andrew Nicholson and Glen Yang in the pivotal game, which gathered a crowd of more than 21,000.

Ginebra relied on a strong second quarter where they outscored the Dragons, 31-19, to end the first half at 54-43, after trailing 24-23 at the end of the first period.

The second half saw Ginebra's lead balloon to 18, 76-58, at the 2:36 mark of the third period, which eventually ended at 76-62. Ginebra continued to take control of the game before the lead was cut to five points, 91-86, with 2:18 left in the final period.

But back-to-back triples from Stanley Pringle gave Ginebra enough breathing room before they reached the final buzzer and took the 3-2 lead.

With the win, Ginebra moved a win away from the import-laden conference's title.

Justin Brownlee exploded for 37 points, eight rebounds, and two assists, while Stanley Pringle added 20 points.

Hayden Blankley tallied 29 points while Kobey Lam and Qilong Zheng made 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Game 6 of the best-of-seven finals series will be played on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The scores:

Barangay Ginebra 101 - Brownlee 37, Pringle 20, Aguilar 12, Tenorio 8, Malonzo 7, Thompson 7, Standhardinger 5, Pinto 3, Gray 2, Mariano 0.

Bay Area 91 - Blankley 29, Lam 16, Zheng 15, Liu 10, Ewing 9, Song 5, Zhu 3, Reid 2, Ju 2.

Quarters: 23-24, 54-43, 76-62, 101-91.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News