By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings once again leaned on the heroics of their import Justin Brownlee to edge out the Alaska Aces, 103-102, in a nail-biting thriller of a game in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night.
With less than a minute left, Brownlee completed a three-point play that allowed Ginebra to regain the lead. That proved to be the final basket for the night. Brownlee put up monstrous numbers once again in a scintillating performance on both ends of the court, finishing with 37 points, 14 boards, six assists, four blocks, and three steals.
Before his last free throw, Alaska appeared en route to stealing the game after razing a 13-point Ginebra lead and taking a 101-95 advantage with a little over three minutes left.
The Kings thus extended their winning streak to five games after starting the conference with a loss. They are now tied at second to third place in the standings with the San Miguel Beermen. Meralco remains on top with a 7-1 card.
Alaska slipped to solo sixth with a 4-3 mark.
Import Cory Jefferson led the Aces with 25 points and 18 boards. His last basket gave Alaska a six-point lead with a litte over three minutes left.
Joe Devance scored on layup before Kevin Ferrer buried a triple to keep Ginebra within one, 101-100. After Alaska’s Chris Banchero split his charities, Brownlee drove past Jefferson, then scored on a difficult layup and with a foul to boot to tie the game at 100-all. He then calmly sank the free throw which proved to be the winning basket.
The Aces had two chances of getting the "W," but Jefferson missed a hurried midrange jumper over Brownlee. Regaining possession, Alaska turned to JVee Casio who missed a potential game-winning trey at the buzzer.
Mahindra 96, Blackwater 87
The Mahindra Floodbuster kept their flickering playoff hopes alive with a morale-boosting 96-87 win over the Blackwater Elite. The victory also tied the Floodbuster with the Elite at 10th to 11th place in the standings.
If the Floodbuster can hurdle their last two remaining games—against Phoenix on May 21 and Barangay Ginebra on June 2—they could have a chance of joining the top 8 in the playoffs.
The loss was huge blow to the Elite who next face two powerhouse teams—Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer.
Mahindra coach Chris Gavina attributed the win to the heads-up play of the team’s two new acquisitions—Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson—who were traded by NLEX.
The energetic duo immediately made a huge impact in their debut game for Mahindra, scoring 15 and nine points, respectively.
Unheralded rookie Reden Celda was also a revelation for Mahindra, top-scoring for his team with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, aside from collecting four rebounds and four assists.
Import Keith Wright added 16 points, 16 boards, and three blocks in 37 minutes.
Jackson Corpuz, another unheralded rookie, also made his mark as he scored all but two of his eight points in the final quarter when they mattered the most.
In contrast, import Greg Smith was the lone bright spot for Blackwater, posting 29 points, 25 boards, six assists, and one block in 43 minutes.
Games Wednesday: GlobalPort Batang Pier (2-6) vs. Meralco Bolts (7-1) and Star Hotshots (6-2) vs. TNT KaTropa Texters (6-2).
