JUSTIN Brownlee made a triumphant return to Barangay Ginebra on Sunday night, making the big basket and the crucial stop in a 80-77 comeback win over Alaska in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Brownlee scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game back since the start of the pandemic, hitting the game-tying basket that enabled the Gin Kings to storm back from seven-points down in the fourth quarter.
The do-it-all import also made a steal against Abu Tratter, one of his three in the game, to set up a Stanley Pringle go-ahead jumper as the Gin Kings regained the lead, 75-73, with 40.4 seconds left.
Pringle only had seven points and made just three of 10 shots for the game, but four of those points enabled Ginebra to eat up on the Alaska lead before Brownlee made the game-tying field goal.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone lauded the effort of his players after they came back from a 71-64 deficit to snap the two-game winning streak of Alaska.
Cone excited to have fans back
Cone also can't wait to see fans back to watch the league's most popular team.
“I told the guys before the game, today we have to take care of our game ourselves. Next game, we are going to have some help from our fans. This one, we have to take care of ourselves,” said Cone.
Olu Ashaolu had 19 points and 18 rebounds for Alaska but missed two free throws after that Brownlee basket.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 80 – Brownlee 28, J. Aguilar 11, Thompson 9, Standhardinger 8, Pringle 7, Tenorio 6, Tolentino 5, Salado 2, Caperal 2, Onwubere 2, Chan 0.
Alaska 77 – Ashaolu 19, Herndon 12, Ahanmisi 10, Teng 10, Taha 9, Brondial 4, Tratter 3, Adamos 3, Racal 3, DiGregorio 2, Tolomia 2, Stockton 0.
Quarters: 14-18; 34-38; 56-59; 80-77.
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