IN typical never-say-die fashion, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel stole Game 3 from Meralco, 113-106, to sweep its way to the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup semifinals Monday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Justin Brownlee knocked down two booming four-pointers to start the Gin Kings' spirited fightback after the determined Bolts seized leads that reached a high of 12 at 78-66.
Then team newbies RJ Abarrientos and Stephen Holt and veterans Maverick Ahanmisi and Scottie Thompson stepped forward to mop it up and complete their march to the best-of-seven semis against either San Miguel Beer or Converge.
"I'm totally shocked that we were able to beat them in three straight games," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone, whose crew set themselves up for this 3-0 conquest with thrilling Ws in the first two matches of the race-to-three contest, 99-92 and 104-103.
"Credit just goes to the guys for really reaching deep. They really locked in in the second half and so it was amazing to see them really reach deep from within themselves to pull this game out," he added.
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Down by seven after three, Brownlee and Co. unleashed a decisive 39-25 salvo in the last 12 minutes to turn it around and finish off the Bolts.
Brownlee posted 23 points, three rebounds and four assists in the final game of his fourth playoff match up in the PBA with Meralco's Allen Durham.
Durham got the better of JB in this game with 38-13 but ended up on the losing end for the fourth time.
Holt (19), Japeth Aguilar (19-8), Abarrientos (17), Ahanmisi (17) and Thompson (17-7) helped Brownlee out in this hard-earned closeout, which gave the Gin Kings some measure of revenge for the Game 7 heartbreaker the Bolts handed them in last season's Philippine Cup semifinals.
"They tore us apart in Game 7 so it's been a long time coming to come back and have a chance to make up for that, especially for our fans," he said.
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The scores:
Ginebra 113 - Brownlee 23, Holt 19, J.Aguilar 19, Abarrientos 17, Ahanmisi 17, Thompson 16, Devance 2, Cu 0, R.Aguilar 0, Pessumal 0.
Meralco 106 - Durham 38, Quinto 19, Newsome 14, Banchero 10, Hodge 10, Caram 7, Bates 4, Rios 2, Mendoza 2, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 28-27, 47-56, 83-72, 113-106
