MANILA – Barangay Ginebra stormed back from a huge fourth-quarter deficit to take down the San Miguel Beermen, 97-96, in their PBA Commissioner's Cup meeting on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Scottie Thompson scored a left-corner three with 4.8 seconds remaining to win it for the Gin Kings as they completed a comeback from 19 points down to steal the win from the Beermen.
The shot was reminiscent of his buzzer-beater in Game 5 of Ginebra's 2020 bubble season semifinals against Meralco Bolts, which happened at the same spot.
Jamie Malonzo won the jump-ball situation against CJ Perez and tapped the ball to Justin Brownlee, who found Thompson open for the game-winning assist.
The shot put to waste Devon Scott's herculean effort in the clutch to close out the game as he turned the ball over in the end when Brownlee and Thompson double-teamed him at the high post.
Brownlee flirted with a triple-double after tallying 33 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists with two steals and one block for the Gin Kings, who won their third straight game and moved up to 5-2, a half-game ahead of Phoenix for fourth place, a full game behind Magnolia Hotshots for first place, and a half-game behind Bay Area and Converge for second and third places.
Thompson added 14 points, six rebounds, six assists, five steals, and one block, while Jamie Malonzo and Japeth Aguilar each chipped in 13 markers with Aguilar also grabbing 11 boards for his own double-double.
Scott finished with 26 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal for SMB, which dropped to 3-4, snapping its own winning run at two and letting NLEX Road Warriors tie the club for seventh place. (PNA)
