MANILA – Drawing inspiration from their individual awards, Justin Brownlee and Earl Scottie Thompson carried the scoring load for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings as they tied the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup finals series at 2-2.
Brownlee and Thompson, the Best Import and Best Player of the Conference, respectively, anchored the Kings’ offense in the second half as they cruised to a 95-84 Game 4 win over Meralco Bolts last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the score tied at 41-all at the half, Brownlee caught fire in the third quarter. Barangay Ginebra opened up an 80-60 advantage early in the fourth on a Nard John Pinto triple.
The Bolts tried to claw its way back several times in the final quarter with the closest at 78-85 on a Chris Newsome triple but a three-pointer by Thompson with over two minutes left restored order for the Gin Kings.
Brownlee finished the match with near triple-double 27 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists, while Thompson was efficient from outside with four treys to also end up with 27 markers.
LA Tenorio contributed 17 markers, with eight coming in the fourth quarter, Christian Standhardinger added 11 points, while Japeth Aguilar was scoreless in his return from injury.
Tony Bishop finished the game with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Newsome, Aaron Black and Raymond Almazan added 15, 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Bolts.
Meanwhile, Ilonggo Ken Bono used his size advantage as San Miguel Beermen bag the PBA 3×3 Second Conference leg 6 championship with a 21-17 beating of Pioneer Pro Tibay in the finals.
The Iloilo City big man was an immovable force inside as he finished with 10 markers as the Beermen notched its second leg championship in this conference.
Louie Vigil chipped in five markers, while Negrense Jeffrey Manday and James Mangahas had four and two as the Beermen bagged the top prize of P100,000 in the leg.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 95 — Brownlee 27, Thompson 27, Tenorio 17, Standhardinger 11, Chan 9, Pinto 4, Tolentino 0, J. Aguilar 0, Mariano 0.
MERALCO 84 — Bishop 25, Newsome 15, Black 14, Almazan 11, Quinto 6, Hodge 5, Hugnatan 3, Maliksi 3, Banchero 2, Baclao 0, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 24-21, 41-41, 68-54, 95-84./PN
