In the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup, Barangay Ginebra plays a contest versus San Miguel in a manner that differs greatly from its previous two encounters.

The main event on Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. will see the Gin Kings attempting a sweep of the Beermen rather than seeking retribution. On August 27, Ginebra defeated SMB 108-102, led by a 51-point performance from Justin Brownlee.

Tim Cone, the coach of Ginebra, is hoping that his squad would be as driven for the San Miguel match as they were in the previous two meetings between Blackwater and Rain or Shine, where the latter club prevailed in the rematch after losing in the opening round.

It’s actually San Miguel that has been doing the sweeping lately. The Beermen defeated the Gin Kings in every assignment they faced during the previous season’s Commissioner’s Cup, including a three-game thumping in the best-of-five quarterfinals.

Cone stated that although Ginebra emerged victorious, San Miguel is undoubtedly loaded for the second round matchup. Marcio Lassiter is just two threes shy from tying Jimmy Alapag for career threes, and Jordan Adams is fresh off a 49-point performance in Phoenix’s 139-127 victory.

Coach Jorge Gallent of San Miguel, meantime, is extremely leery of Brownlee following his 51-point performance in their opening round match. Gallent does concede, though, that the Gin Kings have a strong roster.

“Ginebra has Holt and they have (RJ) Abarrientos and they have Japeth (Aguilar) who has been playing well. We just have to focus on Justin but we can’t focus on him alone. Of course, we have to look at how Holt and Abarrientos and how Japeth get their points,” Gallent noted.

Barangay Ginebra defeated San Miguel 108-102, thanks to a new career-high 51 points from Justin Brownlee, who had earlier in the season suffered a loss.

In the second half, Brownlee led the Gin Kings, as he has for the majority of his glorious PBA career, as the league’s most popular team triumphed for the first time this season, making up for a defeat to Rain or Shine in Candon, Ilocos Sur.

With 28.1 seconds left, Brownlee added a goal on a sprinting shot to give Ginebra the victory and evened their Group B record at 1-1 win-loss, handing San Miguel their first loss in three games.

In his debut PBA game, RJ Abarrientos shot just 1-of-15, but he made up for it with 13 points on 5-of-12 from the field and five assists. Japeth Aguilar finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 from the field.
However, Brownlee was the game’s main character.

In his first PBA game back in Manila after a 16-month absence, Brownlee led Ginebra with 35 points in the second half. His previous best, which he achieved on July 14, 2019, in an overtime victory for Ginebra versus Columbian (Terrafirma), was surpassed by one point.

Aguilar began the late surge with two straight baskets when the score was tied at 102, and he never looked back.

Jordan Adams scored 23 points, while June Mar Fajardo contributed 17 points and 17 rebounds for San Miguel, which came after the team scored 50 points against Blackwater on Sunday.

With 2-0 slates, Rain or Shine and NLEX now share the lead in Group B as a result of the victory.

The Scores

Barangay Ginebra 108 – Brownlee 51, J. Aguilar 21, Abarrientos 13, Thompson 7, Holt 5, Ahanmisi 4, Go 4, Tenorio 3, Adamos 0, Garcia 0, Cu 0.

San Miguel 102 – Adams 23, Fajardo 17, Perez 14, Romeo 13, Teng 12, Ross 5, Trollano 4, Manuel 4, Cruz 4, Rosales 4, Tautuaa 2, Lassiter 0.

Quarter scores: 24-24; 46-46; 74-79; 108-102.