Cubao, Quezon City – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel advances to the 2017 PBA Commissioners Cup Semi-Finals after beating GloablPort Batang Pier, 96-95, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee caught steam from the very beginning as he kicked-off the first quarter by draining three long-range bombs to finish the period with 13 points as Ginebra leads GlobalPort by 7 heading to the second quarter.
Ginebra’s defense stepped up as they limited Globalport to only shoot 26% in the second period and making them only 14 points in the quarter. Brownlee continued to attack but he got help from Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio to sit on a comfortable 13 point lead by halftime.
Brownlee again hit the gas pedal as he poured another 15 points and shot 3 out of 4 from the arc to bring Ginebra up as much as 25 points in the third period.
Justin Harper caught on fire as he desperately tried to save the game by scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter but all hopes blew by when Terrence Romeo engaged in an altercation with Tenorio that resulted in an ejection.
Aguilar was hailed as the best player of the game with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks but Brownlee came in big with 39 points, nine boards and four dimes for Ginebra.
Harper exits the conference with 29 points and fifteen rebounds while Romeo finished with 22 points.
Ginebra will now wait for the winner of the quarterfinal match between TNT KaTropa and the Meralco Bolts. TNT holds a 1-0 lead heading and they have a chance to close out the game on Wednesday, June 7, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The scores:
GINEBRA 96 -Brownlee 39, Aguilar 21, Tenorio 12, Thompson 11, Devance 4, Ferrer 3, Mariano 2, Ellis 2, Caguioa 2, Mercado 0, Marcelo 0, Helterbrand 0.
GLOBALPORT 85 – Harper 29, Romeo 22, Pringle 16, Anthony 5, Cortez 5, Guinto 3, Ababou 3, Mamaril 2, Maierhofer 0, Grey 0, Pessumal 0, Pennisi 0.
Quarterscores: 26-19, 46-33, 76-56, 96-85.
Story by: Ernest Hernandez / Photo credit: Peter Baltazar