By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Foreign guest team Bay Area Dragons escaped Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s late comeback, 87-84, to force a do-or-die Game 7 in the ongoing 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup grand finals last January 11 held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
After 48 minutes of the nip-and-tuck affair, the Dragons finally pulled off the hard-earned Game 6 win, thanks to a rejuvenated Myles Powell who made his PBA finals debut after healing from a foot injury.
Powell not only powered Bay Area to a much-needed win but also had a statement performance after extending his undefeated streak in the PBA to nine-straight games.
Before getting replaced by Andrew Nicholson, Bay Area was undefeated when Powell played and looked invincible during his fiery run in the regular season.
Powell looked like his old self and shook off debut jitters after dropping an impressive stat line of 29 points on 11/20 shooting from the field.
It was a commanding first half for the Dragons after establishing an 11-point lead in the second quarter off a dunk in the shaded lane.
However, Ginebra once again weathered the storm and countered with their own offensive run to trim the deficit to just eight points, 50-42, entering the second half.
Ginebra completed its comeback in the third quarter after blitzing their way to an 18-11 run which helped them retake the lead, 61-62, with 1:39 remaining in the period.
The thousands of fans in attendance then screamed their lungs out after the Gin Kings clinched their biggest lead of the ball game at seven points, 66-73, off a stellar performance from bruising big man Christian Standhardinger.
Just when Ginebra thought they already got the game in the bag, Powell began to smell blood and took matters into his own hands in the last seven minutes.
The former NBA role player helped Bay Area get back into the ball game after equalizing the mano-a-mano, 78-all, after a difficult three-pointer in the right elbow.
Standhardinger was able to respond with a twirling layup but the Ginebra backcourt failed to contain the waxing-hot Powell who scored a dagger shot at the 2:37 mark that extended Bay Area’s lead back to three points, 85-82.
Justin Brownlee answered quickly on the other end with a coast-to-coast layup but Bay Area sealed the deal after Powell sank clutch free throws in the last 25 seconds of the game.
The biggest story in the most crucial stretch of the game was Bay Area’s offensive rebounding that enabled them to keep multiple possessions alive, preventing Ginebra to generate quick scores to catch up.
Ginebra had the chance to tie the game and force overtime but head coach Tim Cone’s mapped-out play was read well by Bay Area.
Both squads will duke it out for the Commissioner’s Cup championship title tomorrow, January 13, to be held at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan at 5:45 PM.
