Gin Kings weather Bolts to take Game 1 of PBA quarters series

MANILA, Philippines -- Barangay Ginebra blew a 15-point lead but held on against the Meralco Bolts, 99-92, to draw first blood in their PBA Governors’ Cup best-of-five quarterfinals series Thursday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Justin Brownlee carried the load for the Gin Kings with 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 41 minutes of play. Scottie Thompson added 19 points and five rebounds to go with five assists.

After storming back from as much as 15 points, Meralco had a huge momentum going into the final quarter as they took a slim 78-77 lead.

The game then went back and forth in the next few minutes as both teams traded shots.

After an and-one play by Chris Banchero put the game at 84-83 in favor of Ginebra, Japeth Aguilar punched in an emphatic dunk that electrified the crowd and the Gin Kings.

This triggered an 11-2 run capped by an RJ Abarrientos triple that put Ginebra ahead by 10, 95-85, with less than three minutes remaining.

Meralco, though, retaliated with a 7-2 blitz to keep it close, 92-97, but the run was just a little bit too late.

A pair of free throws by Brownlee iced the game and set the final score.

“It’s an interesting dynamic for us because we haven’t played Meralco in this conference yet. So, we were kinda in the feeling out process because we haven’t played them,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said.

“Justin’s never been against Nenad [Vucinic] and Luigi [Trillo] before, and wehave a bunch of guys that never played against… Stephen and RJ and they never played Meralco before. So it was really a feeling out process, I felt, throughout the game. Just playing to play their game and we’re trying to play ours,” he added.

Ginebra led by 15 points, 66-51, in the third quarter after an and-one play by Stephen Holt.

A 22-5 run to end the frame, though, put Meralco behind by just two points, 71-73, heading into the final quarter.

This then set up a nip-and-tuck game in the fourth quarter.

Holt chipped in 14 points in his first playoff game playing for Barangay Ginebra. Aguilar added 10 points and sevn rebounds. 

Cliff Hodge paced Meralco with 23 points, while Chris Newsome had 20. Durham finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. 

Game 2 of the series will be on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.