MANILA, Philippines — Justin Brownlee and RJ Abarrientos joined hands in leading Barangay Ginebra to a thrilling 99-93 win against skidding Converge in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Brownlee scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Abarrientos had 32, spiked by four triples, as Ginebra’s dynamic duo lifted the crowd darlings back to winning track.
The Gin Kings improved to 2-1, redeeming themselves from a 118-113 loss to the NLEX Road Warriors last Friday.
Converge dropped its fourth straight game since opening the conference with a victory against Macau.
Justine Baltazar led Converge with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Mikey Williams added 16, six boards and eight assists.
Meanwhile, Meralco built a huge lead but had to fend off Titan Ultra’s ferocious fourth quarter rally to pull off a 118-105 win in the first game.
The Bolts held a massive 28-point lead, before the Giant Risers mounted a huge comeback that saw them claw back to within 89-97 with still under five minutes to go.
But that proved to be closest Titan Ultra’s ferocious fourth could get, as Meralco managed to stay composed from there.
The win allowed the Bolts to redeem themselves from a humiliating 109-102 loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last Friday.
Meralco improved to 3-1. Titan Ultra dropped to 1-3.