THE 22,731 fans who attended Game 6 of the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup Finals witnessed one of the most prolific scoring displays in league history as the imports of TNT and Barangay Ginebra went toe-to-toe.
Chris McCullough scored 53 points, just one more than Justin Brownlee's output in a Sunday to remember. McCullough also had the final say as TNT defeated Barangay Ginebra, 98-90, to arrange a Game 7 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ Brownlee assures there's plenty of gas left in tank for Game 7
It marked the first time that two imports scored at least 50 points in one PBA game in 37 years, according to PBA statistics chief Fidel Mangonon.
When was the last time in happened?
That was on December 10, 1989, when Carlos Briggs exploded for the Anejo Rhum 65ers, now Barangay Ginebra, with 60 points in Game 4 of the Reinforced Conference Finals against San Miguel.
But it was Ennis Whatley who was victorious in the game as the San Miguel import had 50 and the Beermen defeated the 65ers, 150-136.
Brownlee was coming off a 54-point game in Game 5 last Friday, becoming the first import with back-to-back 50-plus games since Briggs scored at least 52 points in all the five games of that 1989 series.
Incidentally, Briggs was so prolific he scored a PBA Finals-record 82 points in Game Two of that series.
However, Briggs’ 65ers lost the title in Game 5 as the Beermen won, 122-111, to complete only the third grand slam in the PBA under coach Norman Black - and the first after Crispa's two title hat-tricks in 1976 and 1983.
For McCullough, the 53 was his PBA career-high, surpassing his previous best by two points which he compiled during Game 3 of the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals against Rain or Shine.
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