MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings has stepped closer to a title repeat via its 115-110 triumph over the Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of the 2021-2022 PBA Governor’s Cup on Easter Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee tallied double-double 40 points and 11 rebounds while Earl Scottie Thompson had a near triple-double 19 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
The Kings surged to a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Arvin Tolentino stepped up with 16 points, including four triples, while Christian Standhardinger and LA Tenorio chipped in 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
The Kings can close out the series on Game 6 this Wednesday.
It was not an easy win for the Kings, however. They saw their once 14-point lead trimmed to 97-98 by a barrage of triples by Bolts import Tony Bishop in the fourth quarter.
Standhardinger responded for the Kings with back-to-back jumpers followed by a three-pointer by Thompson to widen the lead to 105-97 with over two minutes remaining.
The Bolts made its last push to cut the deficit to 101-107. However, a reverse layup by Tenorio followed by four free throws from him sealed the victory for the Kings.
To start the game, the Kings traded shots with the Bolts before going on a huge scoring run in the second quarter behind Thompson, Brownlee, Tolentino and Japeth Aguilar for a 54-43 halftime lead.
In the third period, Brownlee caught fire from outside with consecutive triples as the Kings’ lead reached 73-60 but the Bolts responded with its own rally to cut the deficit to 74-70.
Ginebra pulled away anew with shots from Thompson and Tolentino as the lead reached its largest at 94-80 on a Brownlee three-point play before Meralco made its last push to trim the deficit to 97-98.
Bishop finished the match with double-double 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Chris Newsome and Aaron Black added 27 and 25 points, respectively, for the Bolts.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 115 — Brownlee 40, Thompson 19, Tolentino 16, Standhardinger 13, Tenorio 10, Pinto 8, J. Aguilar 6, Chan 3.
MERALCO 110 — Bishop 30, Newsome 27, Black 25, Maliksi 12, Almazan 6, Belo 4, Hodge 2, Banchero 2, Quinto 2.
Quarterscores: 25-22, 54-43, 82-73, 115-110./PN
