MANILA – Justin Brownlee carried the cudgels for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the endgame to escape with a 73-70 win over NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
After seeing its nine point edge turned into a 67-68 deficit, Brownlee drained a free throw and a basket to tie the score at 70-all before surging the Kings ahead for good at 73-70 on a corner triple.
Brownlee finished the match with 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Gregory Slaughter added 16 markers, while Earl Scottie Thompson had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Kings (2-1).
From a low scoring first quarter, the Kings broke away in the second quarter behind consecutive points from Brownlee for a 38-31 halftime edge. Batang Pier was able to tie early in the third but the Kings took a 50-44 lead on Brownlee hit.
The Batang Pier answered with another rally to come to within 54-55 before turning it to a seesaw affair in the fourth quarter before NorthPort took a 68-67 lead on back-to-back hits by Prince Ibeh.
Moala Tautuaa finished with double-double 15 points and 10 rebounds, Sean Anthony added 14 markers, while Ibeh had eight points, 24 rebounds and five blocks for the Batang Pier (3-1).
In the first game, rookie Jaymar Perez showed why he is the top overall pick of the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft as he spearhead Columbian Dyip to its first win of the conference at the expense of NLEX Road Warriors, 120-105.
Perez was close to efficient for the Dyip as he tallied career-high 39 points, on 16 of 21 shooting, to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Kyle Barone tallied 31 markers in his final game for Columbian.
Holding to a slim 24-22 lead after 12 minutes, the Dyip created distance from the Road Warriors behind Perez and Barone for a 53-39 halftime lead before pulling away by as much as 32 points in the second half.
Tony Mitchell finished with 32 points, Philip Paniamogan added 18 markers, while Negrense Raul Soyud and Juan Miguel Tiongson had 12 markers each for the Road Warriors (0-4)./PN
