Gin Kings outshine Tropang Giga in Game 4 to tie the series
It’s now down to virtually best-of-three.
Barangay Ginebra outshined the TNT Tropang Giga, 106-92, last night, November 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to tie their best-of-seven finals series at 2-2.
Justin Brownlee steered his team with 34 points. He set the tone early for Ginebra as he poured 15 markers in the first quarter of the play.
Brownlee also found his groove at the three-point arc as he sank his first triple of the Finals, and finished with three. He also added two four-pointers in the game.
“Justin is usually a very good starter, especially in big games. He knows how important he is to set the tempo and to give confidence to his teammates," said Cone of Brownlee.
Stephen Holt, who was under the weather in their first two games, finally found his rhythm by producing 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, and five steals to get the player of the game honors. He also tightly guarded TNT’s import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
“In terms of our offense, we just kept making big shots when we needed to. We’ve been doing that pretty much all conference long. It seems like when the team started to make a run at us, somebody hits a big shot. Stephen was the one making those big shots, Maverick hit that big four, Justin had one. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been hitting the big shots when it counts,” Cone said about the all-around effort of his team.
Japeth Aguilar, Maverick Ahanmisi and Scottie Thompson all scored in double digits to help the Gin Kings get their second straight series win after being down 0-2.
Aguilar finished with 18 markers and was brilliant with his power slams, while Ahanmisi scored the same number of points and was on fire from beyond the two arcs.
Thompson performed well again by contributing 12 points while getting rebounds empathically to wow the more than 16,000 crowd in attendance. He also made a milestone when he grabbed his first board of the game as his 2,000th career defensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Hollis-Jefferson paced the Tropang Giga with 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals. He was earlier awarded his second Best Import of the Conference plum, while San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo added Best Player of the Conference in his collection as he won his 11th.
Calvin Otana and Rey Nambatac helped carry the load from their hardworking import RHJ to keep themselves in the game within striking distance.
Oftana tallied a total of 26 — 20 in the first half — but his touches were limited in the second half of play. He also grabbed six rebounds and recorded one assist, one steal, and a block.
Nambatac, the Tropang Giga’s hero in Game 1, who struggled in Games 2 and 3, got back on track by scoring 15 markers, grabbing five boards and dishing off two dimes.
The two teams will break the tie in Game 5 on Wednesday, November 6, still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 106 – Brownlee 34, Ahanmisi 18, J.Aguilar 18, Holt 18, Thompson 12, Abarrientos 5, Devance 1, Tenorio 0, Cu 0, Pinto 0.
TNT 92 – Hollis-Jefferson 28, Oftana 26, Nambatac 15, Castro 9, Pogoy 9, Erram 3, Aurin 2, Heruela 0, Khobuntin 0, Williams 0.
Quarter Scores: 30-25, 54-42, 85-77, 106-92.
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