Brownlee saves day for Kings

MANILA, Philippines - Justin Brownlee came through with a crucial three-point play off Cory Jefferson at endgame and Barangay Ginebra fashioned out a tough 103-102 win over Alaska Milk to inch closer to a playoff passage in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Kings blew away a 13-point lead and had to fight back from a six-point deficit in the last 3:08 of play to salvage a fifth straight win coming from a two-week layoff.

They caught up with the San Miguel Beermen at fourth place at 5-1, now a full game and a half ahead of the Aces who suffered a third straight loss and thus fell down to 4-3.

“It’s a huge win allowing us to continue to separate us from the seventh placers and the others (in the lower half of the chart),” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“But it’s certainly tough. We battled through lots of adversities from playing the last six minutes without a timeout, the calls, not having Japeth (Aguilar) and having a big lead that we lost,” Cone also said. “It’s very difficult but our guys are used to playing down the stretch and making plays both on offense and defense.”

From the 95-101 count, Joe Devance, Kevin Ferrer and Brownlee made the clutch shots that saved the night for the Kings who went on to preserve a hot streak with earlier victories over GlobalPort, Star, NLEX and TNT KaTropa.

Brownlee’s three-point play with 7.2 seconds to go highlighted his 37-point game also laced with 14 rebounds.

Erik Menk, with his family and former teammates, poses for photos during his retirement ceremony at the same venue. MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

Alaska had a chance to salvage the game but Jefferson and Jvee Casio flubbed an attempt each in the last seven seconds.

In the first game, Mahindra drew big games from fresh trade recruits Eric Camson and Glenn Khobuntin to carve out a 96-87 win over Blackwater and stay in the playoff race.

 Camson and Khobuntin, transferees from NLEX, combined with Reden Celda, Jackson Corpuz and import Keith Wright as the Floodbuster snapped a five-game losing skein to tie the Elite at 2-7.

“We had great amazing effort from our new guys Glenn and Eric. The energy of the team was revived and refreshed. Our new players made immediate impact and our guys embraced them,” said Mahindra coach Chris Gavina.

Khobuntin came through with 15 points and five rebounds while Camson contributed nine points, three rebounds and two assists.