After a nailbiter deadlock in Game 6, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel unleashed their full might to slay the Bay Area Dragons, 114-99, cementing their fourth title in six conferences of the Honda 47th Season PBA Commissioner’s Cup Game 7 at the jam packed Philippine Arena, Bulacan on January 15.
PBA, at the same time, recorded an all-time high of 54,589 audience watching live at the arena during Game 7, thanks to the massive popularity of Ginebra within the country.
Justin Brownlee notched a game-high 34 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists, followed by Jamie Malonzo in his first finals stint, capping the game with a staggering 22 points and 17 rebounds. Scottie Thompson had 18 points, nine rebounds, and four assists; while, the finals MVP Christian Standhardinger stood out among his teammates with an average of 10.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 steals in the duration of seven games.
During the first quarter, power center Brownlee let loose in the court, bucketing 15 points solo alongside Malonzo and Thompson as Glen Yan-Kobey Lam defensive failed to douse Ginebra’s offensive, even with Myles Powell joining in the latter half, 27-22.
“Frankly, we were angry after Game 6. We didn’t want to go to a Game 7. We had Game 6 in hand, we had that nice comeback, then we let it slip away, and we felt angry about that. I think that anger spilled over to Game 7. Our guys were really locked in from the very first minute. I really feel that they could feel the energy of the crowd, the 54,000 who were here," Ginebra head coach Tim Cone explained.
Bay Area focused aggro on Brownlee after his dominant headstart, with the giant Liu Chuanxing covering their bases only for Raymond Aguilar to overturn the court with consecutive shots guarded by Thompson, 40-32.
Powell and forward Hayden Blankley strived to catch up during the second quarter to no avail, with Brownlee continuing his rampage supported by LA Tenorio and Aguilar—who perfectly ended the round with a buzzer beating dunk, 61-39.
With a 22-point deficit, the Dragons began to feel the tension as the third quarter commenced under the lead of Standhardinger and Malonzo. Struggling with the defensive, Lam, Yang and Blankley upped their game—as Powell made a comeback play versus Thompson at the five-minute mark—gaining the lead in the quarter, 35-34, despite Ginebra maintaining the 21-pt edge at the end.
Ginebra gaining 95-77 traction, Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian called for timeout to strategize, as Lam, Liu, and Powell slowly recovered from the 18-point loss afterwards, slowly building up the pace with Brownlee out of the court.
Malonzo, together with Thompson and Aguilar, kept the odds in their favor despite the Dragons inching forward, as the final minutes trickled down, 106-92. Powell, despite not being in his best ball game, pushed forward in the three minute mark but to no avail, as Ginebra held the fort until the last second, 114-99, routing the guest team’s ambition of ending the 37-year championship drought.
“When I got traded, I had a dream of all this happening, so now that it’s happening, it’s a great feeling. I think we got a special group, shoutout to my teammates from the best, Scottie, Justin, Japeth, Christian, Jared, LA, we got a special squad, and it took a special squad to do this and be the team like that so I’m just tryna embrace the moment,” remarked Malonzo bittersweetly after his game-changing performance in Game 7.
Ginebra now sits at second with its 15th title win after San Miguel Beermen, with a still far-off 28 championship wins across 47 seasons.
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