An inspired Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, fired up by a hometown crowd, slew Bay Area, 111-93, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on 9 October at the Philsports Arena.
The Gin Kings used their speed advantage to outpace the Dragons, who were visibly adjusting to a change in imports.
Bay Area let go of Myles Powell and brought in NBA veteran Andrew Nicholson.
Nicholson played a decent game, finishing with 28 points and 12 boards, but was held to a mere two points the entire second half.
His counterpart, old reliable Justin Brownlee, was hot all night.
The two-time best import and five-time PBA champion knocked in 46 points, four points short of matching his career-high, as he led the Gin Kings’ onslaught.
The scores:
Brgy Ginebra (111) — Brownlee 46, Malonzo 17, Standhardinger 11, Thompson 8, Gray 5, Aguilar 5, Pessumal 3, Tenorio 2, Pinto 2, Onwubere 2, R. Aguilar 0, Mariano 0.
Bay Area (93) — Nicholson 28, Yang 15, Lam 13, Ewing 8, Blankley 8, Liu 8, Si 5, Reid 4, Zhu 2, Zheng 2, Liang 0, Song 0, Ju 0.
Quarterscores: 26-28; 50-48; 85-66; 111-93.