Justin Brownlee rued Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's late-game misses that allowed the Meralco Bolts to escape with an 85-83 victory and tie the PBA Governors' Cup Finals at 2-2 Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra missed its last four shots after taking an 81-78 lead on Japeth Aguilar's three-point play with 1:54 left, including two from Brownlee, that cost the team a chance at gaining a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"I thought we had some good looks, we just didn't knock them down," Brownlee said after finishing with 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in Game 4.
"Maybe coach Tim thought we should called a timeout, but we got some good looks in the last couple of possessions and we just didn't knock them down. (Meralco) got some good looks as well, but they converted," he added.
Brownlee missed a three-pointer after Meralco took the lead for good on an Allen Durham basket underneath with 46.6 seconds remaining. He got another chance at saving Ginebra from defeat when teammate Sol Mercado blocked Jared Dillinger's layup that would have made it a four-point game.
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With Mercado down on the other end with a sprained left ankle and coach Tim Cone asking for a timeout, Ginebra went for the tie but Brownlee's running shot from the free throw line failed to hit the mark as time expired.
Asked of the players' failure to heed Cone's request for a timeout, Brownlee said: "I think we're in the heat of the moment. We see we had the opportunity where we could score. Of course, we've wanted to get a timeout and drop a designed play for that type of situation, but I think we got a couple of good looks. We just didn't convert."
Brownlee and company can only hope their shots would fall in Sunday's Game 5 when the series shifts to the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan. (JT)
