WITH the momentum quickly shifting to Barangay Ginebra’s side, the Gin Kings gun for the series equalizer against the Magnolia Hotshots in Game Four of the best-of-five semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup on Friday at Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.
Behind the beastly performance of import Justin Brownlee, the Gin Kings refused to let go of their title-retention campaign as they scored a 107-103 win last Wednesday.
The victory was just the initial step of pulling off a herculean task of winning three straight games to return to the Finals.
Game time is 7 p.m., and Barangay Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone remains confident that his wards could relive their “never-say-die” mantra in the team’s remaining do-or-die matches.
“They beat us twice, we can beat them twice,” Cone said.
The iconic slogan of the crowd favorites was personified in Game Three as the Gin Kings rallied from 18 points down to steal the game in a nail-biting finish.
Up by a slim 103-101 advantage, Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio each converted baskets in the last 60 seconds to narrowly escape their foes.
Brownlee was a monster with 46 points, 19 rebounds and five points to give his squad enough scoring power and overwhelm his counterpart Romeo Travis.
Thompson finished with 15 points, seven boards and five assists, while Tenorio came through with 14 points and five rebounds from a hard-earned 5-of-14 shooting from the field.
“We are happy to be alive and kicking,” Cone said with a sigh of relief. “But we have to keep moving forward.”
The most successful coach in the league credited his boys’ resiliency and clutch plays that paved their victory.
“It was great plays from the guys,” he said.
The locals stepped up for the Hotshots with Marc Barroca and Paul Lee scoring in 19 and 17 points, respectively. Travis was almost silent all night with 12 points on a 5-of-17 shooting.