BARANGAY Ginebra’s hot shooting from beyond the arc and Tony Bishop’s slow start compounded Meralco’s woes in Game 5 of the PBA Governors Cup Finals.
Coach Norman Black thought those two factors were huge in the Bolts’ 115-110 loss that enabled the Gin Kings to take the lead in the best-of-seven series for only the first time after trailing 0-1 and 1-2.
The defending champions shot a sizzling 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from three-point range including 5-of-7 by Best Import awardee Justin Brownlee.
Although the Bolts didn’t shoot as badly at 45.5 percent (10-of-22), Bishop was held to just four points in the opening half as the Kings took control early on and sat on a 54-43 lead at halftime.
“Amazing shooting game by Ginebra. There were a lot of times when actually we played decent defense, but they’re still able to knock down their 3s. And it’s hard to beat a team that shoots like they did tonight,” said Black.
Brownlee waxes hot
Bishop still got his usual numbers of 30 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists.
Unfortunately, Brownlee waxed hot in the first half with 17 points including 2-of-3 from three-point range.
“He’s our import and he only scored four points in the first half so it’s a little bit difficult for the locals to make up that amount especially when you’re going up against Justin,” said Black. “And you know Justin can be very productive.”
But to be fair, Bishop poured in 26 in the second half, including 18 in the fourth period where the Bolts closed the gap at 98-97 after trailing by as many as 14 early in the third.
“We struggled a little bit in the first half, maybe because of the lack of production coming from Tony, but he tried to make up for it in the second half,” said Black.
“We did better offensively in the second half. We probably got Tony Bishop going in the fourth quarter, but Standhardinger hit a couple of crucial shots in the end that really help Ginebra,” added the Meralco coach.
Black of course, was referring to the back-to-back mid-range jumpers by Christian Standhardinger that sparked a 7-0 run by the Kings after the Bolts threatened entering the homestretch.
Scottie Thompson capped the Ginebra run with a dagger three-pointer after snaring the rebound over the back of Bishop that hiked the Ginebra lead to 105-97 in the final 2:17 of the game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We actually fought back in the game but it wasn’t enough,” said Black.
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