BAY Area evened the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals heading into the new year, defeating Barangay Ginebra, 99-82, on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Andrew Nicholson finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds while Zhu Songwei and Hayden Blankley also made key contributions as the Dragons bounced back from their Christmas Day defeat and tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

The Dragons led by as many as 20 points in front of 16,044 mostly hostile fans and never once let up to get back on track before the finals takes a respite before resuming on January 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Zhu had 25 points including 10 in the first quarter to set the tone for Bay Area, while Blankley had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field including three treys, atoning for his 0-of-9 shooting from threes in Game One.
[READ: Cone laments Ginebra not ready for Bay Area adjustments]
Justin Brownlee had 32 points but Ginebra was unable to complete a comeback after pulling within five early in the final quarter, 68-63.
Despite Brownlee’s offensive output, Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian was happy with their defense on the Ginebra import, particularly by Zhu.
“The first game, Brownlee is a key situation. He (Zhu) got three fouls early and wasn’t a factor in the first game. This team (Ginebra) is unbelievably disciplined. They are a great basketball team and they are very well-coached. Brownlee though is a key factor and this match-up (with Zhu) is key,” said Goorjian.
“[Zhu] kept him under control and helped us get the lead and then, we competed with them in the glass,” Goorjian added.
Bay Area pulled away behind a 9-0 run with Blankley capping it off with a three for a 77-63 lead. The lead eventually ballooned to 99-79 in the final seconds.
Jamie Malonzo was the only other double-digit scorer for Ginebra with 10 points as the Gins were limited to their lowest output in a finals game since their 83-74 loss to Meralco in the Governors’ Cup Finals last April.
The scores:
Bay Area 99 – Nicholson 30, Zhu 25, Blankley 17, Lam 11, Ju 9, Yang 5, Reid 2, Song 0, Liu 0.
Barangay Ginebra 82 – Brownlee 32, Malonzo 10, Thompson 9, Tenorio 8, Standhardinger 8, Pinto 5, J. Aguilar 5, R. Aguilar 3, Pringle 2, Gray 0, Pessumal 0, Mariano 0.
Quarters: 22-16; 52-35; 68-60; 99-82.
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