AND now the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals cast is complete.

Last but not the least of the four semifinalists is Barangay Ginebra.

The Gin Kings shut the door on perennial rivals Meralco Bolts, 94-87, in their no-tomorrow Game 3 showdown at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Justin Brownlee, Ginebra’s “Do-it-all Guy”, was again the man of the hour for the Gin Kings and coach Tim Cone.

Brownlee finished with a near triple-double with 25 points on 8-of-22 shooting for the Gin Kings, who will now meet top seed NorthPort in the semis.

The Batang Pier made short work of Magnolia Chicken Timplados, 113-110, last Feb. 6.

Three-time Best Import awardee Brownlee also had 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in 47 minutes of action.

Stephen Holt added 17 points and five rebounds, RJ Abarrientos contributed 16 points, including 3-of-5 from the three-point territory, four rebounds and three assists and Troy Rosario chipped in 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Cone lauded his boys for battling back from 13 points down in the first half.

“It was a little scary there in the beginning. They really handled us well, and I thought we were stiff to start the game,” said Cone.

“But I felt that we were still playing well on defense, and we just needed a spark,. Playoff Justin showed up and gave us that spark. When we came back by one point at halftime, we were really confident that we would win this game.”

Chris Newssome provided the firepower for the Bolts with 22 points, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, three rebounds in 38 minutes of action for coach Luigi Trillo.

Bong Quinto added 16 points, four rebounds and three assists while Cliff Hodge had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bolts who missed active consultant Nenad Vucinic for his banishment on technical fouls entering the last four minutes.

Chris Banchero contributed 12 points and three assists while Aaron Black hadnine points and three rebounds.

The best-of-seven semis starts on Feb. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

No. 2 TNT Tropang Giga and No. 6 Rain or Shine will clash in the other semis encounter.

TheTropang Giga eliminated guest team Eastern, 109-93, while the Elasto Painters edged No.3 Converge FiberXers,114-104, and 112-103.

The scores:

Ginebra (94) — Brownlee 23, Holt 17, Abarrientos 16, Rosario 12, Thompson 7, J.Aguilar 6, Ahanmisi 6, Cu 5, Malonzo 0.
Meralco (87) — Newsome 22, Quinto 16, Hodge 13, Banchero 12, Black 9, Mitchell 8, Rios 5, Almazan 2, Bates 0.
Quarterscores: 19-22, 37-38, 64-58, 94-87

The results:

Game 1 – Ginebra 100, Meralco 92.
Game 2 — Meralco 108, Ginebra 104.
Game 3 — Ginebra 94, Meralco 87
(Ginebra wins series, 2-1)

Games Feb. 26:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. — TNT vs.Rain or Shine
7:30 -.m. — Ginebra vs. NorthPort

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya