The scoring machine named Justin Brownlee churned out a new personal PBA high, and Barangay Ginebra scored some payback versus Magnolia Pambansang Manok, pulling off a 102-81 rout to book an outright playoff entry in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday.
"I just wanna come out, play with more energy and focus on what we need to do," said Brownlee after a scintillating 49-point job leading the Kings to a sixth win in 10 games.
Japeth Aguilar, Stanley Pringle and LA Tenorio also had sterling efforts as the Kings joined the TNT KaTropa, the NorthPort Batang Pier and the Blackwater Elite to an early quarterfinals passage.
The Hotshots failed to sustain an early blitzkrieg and dropped to fifth place at 5-4.
The Kings scored some measure of revenge after losing playoff matchups with the Hotshots in the last two conferences.
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James Farr himself started strong but couldn't keep up with Brownlee in the second half. Nonetheless, he also established a new personal PBA high with 34 points that went with 21 rebounds.
Brownlee came through with a sustained brilliance, highlighted by an 18-of-24 clip and 7-of-8 charities that shattered his previous PBA high of 46 points.
Aguilar added 18 markers and nine boards, Pringle contributed 13 points, five assists and four steals while Tenorio drilled in three three-pointers and a total of 12 markers as the Kings scored a follow-up to their big win over the Alaska Milk Aces the last time out.
They will try to make it three in a row for a 7-4 closing mark as they play the Columbian Dyip next Sunday.
Eased out in the fight for the Top Two, the Kings now look to land a spot in the Top Six for a place in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
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Brownlee and his teammates seized control on a 32-point explosion in the third quarter and kept going in the fourth to pull off the 21-point win in the game where they trailed by 11 in the early goings.
"We did a great job in the second half," said Browlee.
The Ginebra import struck from all over the floor, Tenorio and Pringle had clutch shots from the outside while Aguilar had a dunking spree in the Kings' searing windup.
The early minutes belonged to the Hotshots who opened the game with an 13-2 salvo.(SB)
The scores:
Ginebra 102 - Brownlee 49, Aguilar 18, Pringle 13, Tenorio 12, Thompson 5, Slaughter 2, Mariano 2, Caguioa 1, Caperal 0, Devance 0.
Mqgnolia 81 - Farr 34, Barroca 16, Sangalang 14, Jalalon 8, Lee 5, Brondial 4, Melton 0, Herndon 0, Pingris 0.
Quarterscores: 18-23, 46-47, 78-64, 102-81
