By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Justin Brownlee once again weaved his magic after helping the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel take a 2-1 series advantage over the San Miguel Beermen, 99-94, in Game 3 of their PBA Governor’s Cup semifinal clash on October 13, 2024.
Ginebra’s resident star import became the catalyst in the crucial game after halting every run that SMB staged when they were trying to complete a comeback in the fourth quarter.
Aside from dousing SMB’s fire, Brownlee also helped restore order for Ginebra when they fumbled their lead in the third.
The Beermen jacked up a 7-0 scoring run to retake the cushion but Brownlee came up big and answered back with haymakers that put Ginebra in an ideal position entering the last 12 minutes of the ball game.
After the physical affair, Brownlee chalked up an all-around outing of 30 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and five blocks.
Brownlee’s underrated defensive presence sparked Ginebra in the second half as he provided help underneath to support Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt.
His timings in swatting SMB’s attempts delivered a string of stops that Ginebra needed in the crucial fourth, en route to a stable performance in the last five minutes.
“We had some uncertain moments in the third quarter when we came out at halftime. But thanks to this guy, we recovered,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
Backstopping Brownlee from Ginebra’s local pool is Aguilar, who flashed out a vintage performance with 22 markers and eight rebounds.
Maverick Ahanmisi was also consistent on the floor and did what he does best, scoring the ball, dropping 15 points while grabbing 11 big boards.
On the other hand, EJ Anosike, SMB’s bruising reinforcement, had a monster outing of 32 points and 10 rebounds but needed more help from his teammates as CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo, the team’s top two local scorers, only had 13 and 12, respectively.
