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| Justin Brownlee's impressive triple-double lifted the Barangay over the then undefeated Beermen. PBA Media Group |
QUEZON CITY--One unbeaten start in the PBA Governors' Cup came to an end on Sunday night as San Miguel fell prey to Ginebra, 129-124, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Barangay rode on a hot shooting spree in the first half, but they had to hold off the Beermen when they threatened a comeback in the second half.
After a close first quarter, Ginebra began pulling away in the second, opening a 71-59 lead at halftime which the team stretched to as high as 18, 87-69, in the third.
However, SMB slowly crawled back after going on a zone defense to counter Ginebra's offense, and the lead suddenly became just two points, 115-113, with 3:32 left in the fourth canto.
The Barangay responded with an 8-1 run to increase their lead back to nine, 123-114, with 2:09 remaining.
The Beermen still had one final push, cutting the lead down to just three, 125-122, with 32 seconds left.
However, Arwind Santos was called for a technical foul off a second delay of game infraction which dealt a huge blow to their momentum, and LA Tenorio nailed the technical free throw to up the lead back to four, 126-122.
Stanley Pringle added a split from the line to give Ginebra a five-point cushion with 26 seconds left.
Dez Wells found Junemar Fajardo open for the lay-in to trim the gap back to three, 127-124, with 17 seconds to go.
But Stanley Pringle went 2-for-2 from the line for the final count.
Justin Brownlee finished with a triple-double of 28 points on 12-for-20 field goals, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists with one steal for the Barangay, who moved up to 2-2.
Pringle added 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
Wells's 52-point blast went down the drain as the Beermen lost for the first time in the season-ending conference after going 4-0 at the start.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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