Ginebra continues dominance against Meralco to enter Final Four

The Ginebra Gin Kings once again defeated the Meralco Bolts in a series, after winning Game 3 of their PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup duel, 94-87, on Sunday night, February 9, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Justin Brownlee had another clutch performance in leading the Ginebra to their sixth straight Final Four appearance.

Brownlee put-up an almost triple-double performance with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, dominating his counterpart Akil Mitchell, who only had eight markers for the Meralco.

The game was close from the beginning with only one lead change going to halftime break, where the Bolts had a slight advantage of 38-37.

In the third quarter, the Gin Kings managed to take the lead, 64-58, and never looked back despite Meralco’s grit.

RJ Abarrientos was instrumental in orchestrating offense down the stretch. He finished with 16 points, including a big three in crunch time.

Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario also delivered double-digit outputs for Ginebra with 17 and 12, respectively.

Meralco’s captain Chris Newsome led his team with 22 markers, while Bong Quinto added 16. Cliff Hodge and Chris Banchero also scored in double-digits, sharing 13 and 12, respectively.

Ginebra will face the top-seeded NorthPort Batang Pier in the Final Four that will begin on February 26, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

GINEBRA 94 - Brownlee 23, Holt 17, Abarrientos 16, Rosario 12, Thompson 7, J.Aguilar 6, Ahanmisi 6, Cu 5, Malonzo 0.

MERALCO 87 - Newsome 22, Quinto 16, Hodge 13, Banchero 12, Black 9, Mitchell 8, Rios 5, Almazan 2, Bates 0.

Quarter Scores: 19-22, 37-38, 64-58, 94-87.