Brownlee, Abarrientos tow Gin Kings to PBA finals

MANILA, Philippines -- The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings are headed to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals. 

Barangay Ginebra banked on big-time performances by Justin Brownlee and RJ Abarrientos to boot out the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 118-107, in Game 6 Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo and clinch a ticket to the finals.

Brownlee and Abarrientos finished with 31 and 30 points, respectively, in the clincher. The former had 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block, while the latter had seven dimes, six boards, three steals and a swat. 

Ginebra pulled away late in the game to advance to the finals and await the semifinal winner between the TNT Tropang 5G and the Meralco Bolts.

“Well, I'll tell you one thing. We didn't want to play a Game 7 against a Yeng Guiao team. That would have been a disaster for us. We put all our eggs in one basket and went after this game tonight because we didn't want to play a Game 7,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said. 

“Yeng's teams are just too well prepared. They come so hard. It was just a terrific battle, the whole series. Just trying to keep up with them was a trial for us. He gets the absolute most out of his personnel, as we all know,” he added. 

After trailing by as much as 17 points, Rain or Shine had to claw its way back into the game, slicing the deficit to two, 94-96, after a triple by Jaylen Johnson with 9:48 remaining. 

Brownlee and Scottie Thompson kept them at bay, but an and-one play made it a one possession lead once again, 97-100. 

Ginebra then dropped a massive 16-5 bomb capped by a Thompson three-pointer to secure the victory and the finals berth, 116-102, with 1:43 to go. 

Cone also tipped his hat to Abarrientos, saying his determination entering Game 6 was evident. 

“His determination tonight was just amazing. You could see it. I saw it in the locker room before the game. I could see it even yesterday during our film meeting. He just had it on his face and his body language that he was going to come out and have a big game tonight,” he said. 

“He put two back-to-back huge games and that's really difficult in the playoffs to be able to do that. They were targeting him, playing multiple players against him, keeping fresh players, attacking him on the defensive side. They were doing everything they could to get him out of his game. Just that strength of character didn't allow that," Cone added. 

“He stayed within himself and really won the game for the team. I'm just really impressed.” 

The Gin Kings connected on 16 of the 35 attempts from deep, with a 41-of-83 clip from the field overall. 

Thompson added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the win, while Ralph Cu had 11 points off the bench. 

Johnson top-scored for Rain or Shine with 27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Gian Mamuyac added 25 points while Adrian Nocum had 16.