WATCH: Jamie Malonzo Highlights [Brgy. Ginebra vs Bay Area Finals Game 3 | Jan. 4, 2023]
PBA Season 47 Commissioner's Cup
Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo came through with clutch baskets to help Brgy. Ginebra register a scintillating 89-82 come-from-behind win over Bay Area in Game 3 of the best-of-seven championship series in the PBA Season 47 Commissioner’s Cup, Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
The Gin Kings, who trailed by as much as 14 points, outscored the Dragons in the payoff period by the same number to bounce back from a lopsided loss in Game 2 and regain control of the series, 2-1, heading into Game 4 which is set on Friday, January 6, 5:45pm at the same venue.
Justin Brownlee led the charge for the home team by firing 34 points to go with 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block. The soon-to-be naturalized Filipino, however, struggled from the field missing 15 of his 24 attempts including 7 from beyond the arc but made up for it by going 15-of-20 from the 15-foot line.
“Nothing’s working for us the whole game but I said to them we just gotta keep on working, look for something positive to spark us,” said Brgy. Ginebra head coach Tim Cone during the post-game presser.
“Suddenly, Justin upped his motor and Scottie went crazy and got a couple of unbelievable rebounds and we got on a roll. The crowd kept feeding us, feeding us. We were really hungry as we weren’t getting much early and we fed on that feel from the crowd,” he added.
Christian Standhardinger contributed 15 points while Thompon and Malonzo finished with 14 and 10 markers, respectively with the former adding 10 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals to his tally.
Bay Area import Andrew Nicholson led the visitors with a huge 23-point, 24-rebound performance. The former NBA player, however, sustained an ankle injury during the closing seconds of the match after landing of the foot of Malonzo in a rebound battle.