By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is off to a great start in the 2021 PBA Governor’s Cup after completing their comeback performance against the undefeated Alaska Aces, 80-77.
Clutch shots from the returning super import Justin Brownlee and point guard Stanley Pringle helped Ginebra weather the storm and complete a comeback after being down by seven points, 64-71, with six minutes left in the final frame.
Down by two with 1:14 left in the game, Brownlee took Alaska’s Abu Tratter one-on-one and drove down the lane for a sweeping short hook to equalize the game at 73-all.
Alaska then committed a costly turnover during their offensive turn when Brownlee poked the ball out of Tratter’s hands.
Pringle then iced the game and gave Ginebra a 75-73 lead after driving past the tight defense of Jeron Teng in the right corner and converting a spinning fade-away jumper.
Alaska eventually cut the Ginebra lead to just two, 75-77, off a Robbie Herndon layup but it wasn’t enough to spearhead another offensive push to force overtime.
Brownlee led all scorers with 28 points on top of 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks in his highly-anticipated PBA return after almost two years.
Pringle on the other hand only contributed seven total points but four of those came in the last two minutes of the game that gave Ginebra the cushion they needed.
Meanwhile, Alaska import Olu Ashaolu delivered another solid game with 19 points and 18 rebounds backstopped by Herndon with 12 points.
