By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel played an inspired second quarter to fend off the Bay Area Dragons in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup grand finals, 96-81, last December 25, 2022.
After playing catchup for most of the first half, the Gin Kings flipped the switch with five minutes remaining in the second quarter and uncorked a momentum-changing 15-0 run that sparked the start of their comeback.
Christian Standhardinger kicked off Ginebra’s scoring party after a twirling basket in the shaded lane that put the Filipino hoops fans to their feet.
The savvy center wasn’t done doing damage and followed it up with a strong bump and a drive against the outstretched arms of former NBA player Andrew Nicholson.
LA Tenorio joined the Gin Kings’ scoring spree after hitting a big three-pointer from the right baseline. Super import Justin Brownlee then capped off their run with another drained shot from downtown which helped them retake the lead, 41-34.
Ginebra picked up where they left off in the second half and continued to strike back whenever the Dragons mounted mini-offensive runs.
With the help of Tenorio, Standhardinger, and Brownlee, Ginebra scored a wire-to-wire second half and took care of business in Game 1.
“Playing in the Finals, playing on Christmas Day is a little overwhelming. Playing in the Finals is a little overwhelming. You add the two together, it makes for a lot of anxiety coming into a game like this and playing it,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
Brownlee led the Gin Kings with a classic consistent scoring show after dropping 28 points and 13 rebounds while Tenorio continued his vintage magic and contributed 22 points, three assists, three steals, and two rebounds.
Standhardinger became Ginebra’s spark plug during that waxing hot 15-0 run and chipped in an impressive double-double performance of 16 points and 10 boards.
On the other hand, Bay Area played flawlessly in the first 17 minutes of the ball game but surprisingly surrendered their momentum in the second period.
Nicholson carried the scoring load for the Dragons after a 27-point performance but wasn’t enough to wake up his squad that failed to retake the lead in the last canto.
Bay Area will have the chance to retaliate and equalize the series at 1-1 on Wednesday, December 28, to be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
