TWO-TIME Best Import awardee Justin Brownlee upstaged his former college rival Andrew Nicholson as defending champion Barangay Ginebra outduelled erstwhile unbeaten Bay Area Dragons, 111-93, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Brownlee scored 17 of his game-high 46 points during a decisive third-quarter breakaway as the Kings posted their second straight win and handed the Dragons their first setback in five games
The win by Ginebra also spoiled the PBA debut Nicholson, who took the place of Myles Powell.

A 35-18 third-quafter effort was all the Gin Kings needed to turn what was expected to be a close contest into a rout.

And Brownlee had a lot to do with it.

The five-time PBA champion caught fire in the second half as Ginebra broke the game wide open at 85-66 from 50-48 at halftime.

Brownlee finished with a high 17-of-26 shooting, including 4-of-9 from the three-point area, in less than 39 minutes of action. He could have easily surpased the 50-point mark but he was given a much-needed rest by Ginebra coach Tim Cone with the score pegged at 100-77 with a little over five minutes remaining.

His Bay Area counterpart, Nicholson, had 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting in 32 minutes,

The 6-10 former NBA player added 12 rebounds.

“It’s great to see him,” said Brownlee, referring to Nicholson.

Jamie Malonzo added 17 points, Christian Standhardinger contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Stanley Pringle had 10 points and Scottie Thompson had eight points and 11 rebounds for Ginebra.

Ginebra’s defense was also a major factor.

The Gin Kings held the Dragons to only 93 points — their lowest output in five games in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

“That’s certainly the best part of what we did tonight — playing defense,” said Cone.

“It’s tough playing the first game and we really hoped we could wear him (Nicholson) out,” said Cone. who cited the efforts of Standhardinger and the debuting Jeremiah Gray.

Gray, who was acquired by Ginebra in a trade with Terrafirma, had five points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

Glen Robertson Yang had 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Bay Area. which won its first four assignments against Blackwater (133-87), NorthPort (105-104), Phoenix Super LPG (101-91) and Converge FiberX (106-100).

Ginebra will next face Phoenix on Oct. 14 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings booked their first win of the conference with a 99-91 victory over long-time rival Meralco at the same Araneta Coliseum last Oct. 2.

They dropped their opening game — 71-93 to Rain or Shine at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Bay Area, on the other hand, faces another acid test when it takes on multi-titled San Miguel Beer and MVP June Mar Fajardo on Oct. 16 also at the Big Dome.

The scores:

Ginebra (111) — Brownlee 46, Malonzo 17, Standhardinger 11, Pringle 10, Thompson 8, Gray 5, J. 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 4, Zhu 2, Zhang 2, Ju 0, Liang 0, Song 0.
Quarterscores: 26-28; 50-48; 85-66; 111-93.