A reminiscent of their former encounters, Justin Brownlee proved a thorn to Meralco again as he buried a three-pointer over Allen Durham with 10.1 seconds left as Barangay Ginebra beat the Bolts, 104-103, last 28 September at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum to take a 2-0 lead in the PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals.
Brownlee's stepback three capped off a grind-out match-up between the two imports with the Gin Kings ending up as victors to move one win away from advancing to the semifinals.
Even Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone was left in awe about Brownlee's heroics.
"It was Justin's night. It was amazing," Cone said.
Brownlee finished with 39 points on 4-of-7 shooting from threes, none bigger than the last one that he hit in the final seconds that had fans reminiscing the title-winning basket during the 2016 Governors’ Cup finals. He also had seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, and three blocks.
Durham’s performance went for naught even after he played his best game of the conference by contributing 39 points and 14 rebounds. He also scored a three-point play with 1:22 left in the game that enabled Meralco to grab a 103-101 lead.
Durham missed the potential game-winner, a follow-up at the buzzer.
Brownlee rescued the Gin Kings after they were trailing, 100-96, after a lay-up by Durham with 2:15 remaining in the game.
"Tonight, we jumped on the broad shoulders of Justin. We’ve done that many times in the past. But we also have a realization that we can’t do that every night, and we have to do better in the next game," said Cone.
Chris Newsome had 23 points, while Cliff Hodge had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists but Meralco now faces elimination in its first conference since winning its first PBA title in the Philippine Cup last season.
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