[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Glorious Ginebra claims PBA crown to fill 8-year title void ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
MANILA – Justin Brownlee scored a game-winning triple as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings captured the 2016 Oppo PBA Governor’s Cup crown with a 91-88 win over the Meralco Bolts in Game 6 of the best-of-seven finals on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
With the score tied at 88-all following a missed layup by Bolts reinforcement Allen Durham and just five seconds left on the clock, Brownlee drained the game winning triple to surge the Kings ahead for good.
Brownlee finished with 31 points, 22 markers coming in the second half, to lead the way for the Kings, which captured its ninth PBA championship, its first since the 2008 PBA Fiesta Cup.
“That was just a brilliant play I designed for Justin,” said Kings head coach Tim Cone, who captured his 19th PBA championship as a head coach. “He’s been awesome for us in this conference.”
Down by as much as 15 points early in the third quarter, the Kings began its move behind LA Tenorio and Chris Ellis to come to within 55-52. The Kings later gained the lead for the first time at 65-64 on a three-point play by Earl Scottie Thompson.
The Bolts regained the lead early in the final quarter at 70-65 on conversions by Durham and Bryan Faundo, but the Kings responded with a run to snatch the lead at 72-70 on a layup by Anthony Helterbrand.
From there, the game was knotted for both teams with the Bolts holding on to a slim 79-76 lead, but a three-pointer by Thompson tied the score at 79-all. After the Bolts surged to 84-81, Brownlee scored five straight points to give the Kings an 84-86 lead.
Free throws by Jimmy Alapag and Clifford Hodge gave the Bolts an 88-86 edge, but the Kings once again leaned on Brownlee, who scored a game-tying layup as well as the series-ending triple, to seal the championship for the Kings.
Finals MVP Tenorio finished with 25 points, including 21 in the last two quarters, while Thompson added 10 markers for the Kings, which played for most of the conference without former top-overall pick Gregory Slaughter.
Rookie of the Year awardee Chris Newsome led the way with 21 points, while Best Import of the Conference winner Durham was limited to just 13 markers for the Bolts, which was on its first-ever PBA Finals appearance./PN
SCORES
GINEBRA 91 – Brownlee 31, Tenorio 25, Thompson 10, Aguilar 7, Caguioa 6, Helterbrand 5, Ellis 4, Marcelo 3, Mercado 0, Devance 0, Cruz 0
MERALCO 88 – Newsome 21, Durham 13, Hugnatan 12, Faundo 8, Alapag 8, Uyloan 7, Amer 6, Hodge 6, Nabong 4, Caram 3
QUARTERS – 18-27, 32-45, 65-66, 91-88
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
