Dragons get back at Gin Kings, tie PBA finals sans imports

Game Sunday (Mall of Asia Arena)
5:45 p.m. – Ginebra vs Bay Area
*Series tied, 2-2

MANILA, Philippines – Against tremendous odds, import-less Bay Area dished out a Barangay Ginebra-esque 94-86 Game Four victory over the Gin Kings Friday night and brought the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title series back to square one.

With the prolific Andrew Nicholson relegated to a cheering role nursing a sprained ankle, Kobey Lam, Glen Yang and Zhu Songwei stepped up as the brave Dragons took the full-strength Gin Kings head-on and pulled off the seemingly improbable equalizer.

Lam rifled in 30 points spiked by eight triples while Yang and Zhu shot 18 apiece, anchoring the Dragons to a 56-40 second-half exchange that turned the tables after the Gin Kings led by as many as 12 in the early goings.

It was a tough test in front of a pro-Ginebra 17,236 crowd at the MOA that the young Dragons passed with flying colors.

“I didn’t know where they’d go because we played off him (Nicholson) the whole time but I thought our guys were brave. They were fearless,” said Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian.

Nicholson showed up in shirt and pants and wore a protective boot on his left foot, leaving his teammates with a huge 26.67-point, 17-rebound to fill in the must-win match.

“Being down, 1-2, in a series is tough. This game was really important. We didn’t want to be down 1-3 especially with our import Nicholson and (backup import) Myles (Powell) out,” said Lam of their motivation. “We ought to step up more, (making) extra effort in rebounding, shooting, and other aspects.”

The Dragons spoiled the triple-double performance of Justin Brownlee, who scattered 23-13-11 on the night he won his third Best Import award.

Scottie Thompson, who joined Brownlee in the spotlight prior to the game as Best Player of the Conference, punched in 18 in a losing cause.

The protagonists break their tie tomorrow with Nicholson still a doubtful participant.

The scores:

Bay Area 94 – Lam 30, Yang 18, Zhu 18, Liu 8, Reid 8, Blankley 7, Song 3, Zheng 2, Ewing 0, Ju 0

Ginebra 86 – Brownlee 23, Thompson 18, J.Aguilar 12, Tenorio 11, Pringle 9, Standhardinger 8, Malonzo 5, Mariano 0, Gray 0, Pinto 0

Quartercores: 19-19, 38-46, 60-61, 94-86