By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Justin Brownlee proved that he is worth the bag after leading the Indonesian basketball club Pelita Jaya to a 3-0 first-round sweep of the Basketball Champions League (BCL) Asia Qualifiers on April 6, 2024, at the UG Arena in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The resident import of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel franchise and the current naturalized player of the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national hoops team spearheaded the rally for Pelita to take down the Adroit Club of Singapore, 82-64.
Brownlee was nothing but spectacular for Pelita after tallying an efficient stat line of 18 points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in just 22 minutes of action.
The savvy small forward shot an efficient 7/9 field goal and only missed one attempt from the three-point line out of his four tries.
Brownlee didn’t start the ball game with an offensive mindset and let the game come to him after knocking down a couple of open looks from the perimeter in the opening frame.
The veteran swingman then picked up his pace at the start of the second quarter, driving aggressively to the hole to fish four fouls while also draining a triple that ballooned Pelita’s lead to double digits.
Brownlee then barely played in the final canto after Pelita enjoyed a commanding lead and ended the game with another convincing outing.
During the three games he played for Pelita in the first round of the BCL Asia Qualifiers, Brownlee averaged 18.3 points, nine rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals.
Brownlee and his Indonesian club will then take a rest and resume its BCL campaign on April 24, 2024, when the second round kicks off.
