Barangay Ginebra stretched its hot streak while halting TNT KaTropa’s own run as the Gin Kings topped the Texters, 107-89, behind an amazing second-half charge to move up to third place in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
Beaten in a fierce gun duel in the first half, Justin Brownlee and his teammates turned things around after the halftime break and went on to notch a fourth straight win after a losing conference debut against the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
The Texters, meanwhile, dropped to 5-2 after suffering a first loss in their last five games.
From 55-61 down at the half, the Gin Kings swayed the tide in their favor, 75-67, in the third before waxing extra hot in the fourth, torching the Texters with seven three-pointers.
“We finished well. As they say in golf it’s not how you drive but how you arrive,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
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“The first half was something special. We played as well as we could but they played better. They hit shots that were unbelievable against our defense. They were something, they were fantastic,” Cone also said.
“In the second half, our defense warmed a bit. Japeth Aguilar was incredibly active. He’s being an intimidating rim protector was a key,” Cone added.
Aguilar’s defensive effort was really a big key in Ginebra’s third-quarter turnaround. Doing the killing in the offensive end were Brownlee and LA Tenorio.
Brownlee scored nine points in the third and eight in the fourth while Tenorio poured in 14 of his 21 in the payoff period.
An amazing highlight of Ginebra’s fourth win in a row was an avalanche of seven three-pointers by Brownlee, Tenorio and Sol Mercado in the fourth.
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The Texters were razor-sharp early on, hitting at a 54-percent clip and limiting themselves to only five turnovers on the way to a 61-55 lead at the turn.
Donte Greene went on a scoring mode early, firing three treys to spike his 21-point explosion in the first half.
The Kings were also sharp, converting 50-percent of their shots but committed 10 errors, resulting to a crucial 14-2 advantage by TNT on points off turnovers in the first 24 minutes of play.
Brownlee accounted for five of those lapses, denting his 17-point first-half production.
But Brownlee himself stood tallest in their second-half charge.
