BARANGAY Ginebra's redemption tour continues.
Title-less over the last four conferences, the Gin Kings got another crack at regaining lost glory as they advanced to the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup finals at the expense of NorthPort, 4-1.
The league's most popular ballclub sealed the advance with a 126-99 Game 5 romp over the Batang Pier in Friday night's semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With this, the charges of coach Tim Cone earned themselves a chance to not only win a first crown since the Season 47 Commissioner's Cup but also get back at TNT, their tormentor in back-to-back Governors' Cup championship duels.
The Gin Kings and the Tropang Giga will renew their rivalry in a race-to-four dispute beginning Friday at the MOA Arena.
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Hours after TNT booked the first ticket to the finals via a 97-92 closeout of Rain or Shine, Ginebra handled their end of business versus the Batang Pier.
Cone's crew seized control of Game 5 with a 39-31 exchange in the second canto, which resulted in a 62-53 upperhand. Momentum on the side, the Gin Kings opened the third with 14 unanswered points to widen the gap to 23.
Justin Brownlee produced 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals and got sufficient support from the Ginebra locals in the quick bounceback to Ginebra's 103-108 defeat last Wednesday that denied them a 4-0 sweep.
RJ Abarrientos dished out a 20-point, 10-assist double-double off the bench, Jamie Malonzo shot 20 spiked by a 4-of-5 clip from the three-point line, Japeth Aguilar netted 18, Scottie Thompson had 14-8-5 and Troy Rosario made 11 before exiting with a sprained right ankle in the third to help JB out.
"Yung pagkatalo namin sa Game 4 yung ang naging boost namin sa Game 5. Nag-step up lang lahat tulad nung three (won) games namin. We want back to the basics and coach Tim sinabi nya kailangan naming gawin is sustain (consistent play) and mindset is one game at a time," said Abarrientos.
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Kadeem Jack, with 31, and Allyn Bulanadi, with 26 highlighted by six triples, showed the way for top-seeded NorthPort, which saw its strong run in the mid-season conference end with a whimper. (OL)
The Scores:
Ginebra 126 - Brownlee 21, Abarrientos 20, Malonzo 20, J. Aguilar 18, Thompson 14, Rosario 11, Ahanmisi 9, Holt 7, Mariano 2, Adamos 2, Pinto 2, Cu 0, Pessumal 0, R. Aguilar 0.
NorthPort 99 - Jack 31, Bulanadi 26, Munzon 12, Taha 10, Tolentino 9, Navarro 9, Onwubere 2, Nelle 0, Flores 0.
Quarterscores: 23-22, 62-53, 97-76, 126-99
