Barangay Ginebra take semis edge over NorthPort

Justin Brownlee exploded for 41 points for the Barangay. PBA Media Group
By Xy-Zha Cabanlong

MANILA - Barangay Ginebra moved closer to their hopes of making it to the PBA Governor's Cup finals, trouncing NorthPort; 132-105 in Game 3 of their Best-of-5 semis series, Wednesday night.

The unndermanned Batang Pier, who are missing the services of Sol Mercado due to a twisted ankle, were only able to come close in the game during the first quarter, just trailing by five at the end of the period, 31-36.

Since then, the Gin Kings pulled away, taking advantage of their opponent's injury woes, leading as much as 16 points at halftime and 32 late of the fourth period.

Justin Brownlee topped all scorers, finishing with 41 points but it was Jeff Chan who had a breakaway game, scoring 3-out-of-5 from the rainbow line en route to a 16-point performance.

The NorthPort duo of Michael Qualls and Christian Standhardinger again topped the score sheet with 32 and 20 points, respectively while Japeth Aguilar led the locals of the Gin Kings, finishing with 18 points.

The Scores:

Barangay Ginebra 132 - Brownlee 41, J. Aguilar 18, Chan 17, Pringle 14, Tenorio 11, Teodoro 8, Thompson 6, Mariano 6, R. Aguilar 5, Slaughter 4, Dillinger 2, Sargent 0, Caperal 0

NorthPort 105 - Qualls 34, Standhardinger 20, Taha 15, Anthony 14, Lanete 8, Elorde 7, Cruz 5, King 2, Escoto 2

Quarterscores: 36-31, 64-48, 100-72, 132-105

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