Bay Area Dragons refused to just roll over and die as they forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by outlasting the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, 87-84, in Game 6 of the 47th PBA Commissioner’s Finals on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After playing import-less in the last two games, the Dragons finally paraded a reinforcement in Myles Powell, who did not disappoint in his return as he helped Bay Area tie the series at 3-all.
Game 7 is set on Sunday at the Philippine Arena.
Filling in for the injured Andrew Nicholson, Powell erupted for 29 points– 12 of them came in the nip and tuck fourth quarter.
Powell also had some clutch plays down the stretch.
With his team up, 85-84, Powell drove strong to the basket and was able to fish a foul from Nards Pinto with seven seconds left.
Powell made the first free throw but missed the second. He, however, collared the offensive rebound and was sent to the charity stripe again with five ticks to go.
Powell missed his first free throw attempt but made the second, giving the Dragons a three-point cushion, 87-84.
Bay Area went on to escape with the all-important win when Japeth Aguilar missed a potential-game tying triple as the final buzzer sounded.
Powell, who added seven rebounds and three assists, was backed by Hayden Blankley’s 23-point output built on six triples.
Glen Yang added 10 markers, while Zhu Songwei tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Justin Brownlee recorded 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a solid triple-double show that went for naught.
THE SCORES:
BAY AREA (87) – Powell 29, Blankley 23, Yang 10, Zhu 10, Lam 9, Liu 4, Reid 2, Zheng 0, Ju 0.
GINEBRA (84) – Brownlee 37, J.Aguilar 12, Standhardinger 12, Thompson 8, Pringle 8, Malonzo 4, Pinto 3, Tenorio 0, Gray 0.
QUARTERS: 25-20, 50-42, 66-64, 87-84.
Photo courtesy of PBA Media Bureau
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