THERE’S no stopping Barangay Ginebra and its never-say-die spirit.

With Justin Brownlee leading the way, Ginebra rallied from an 18-point deficit — and seven points in the final 3:04 — to roll back San Miguel Beer 87-85, and complete a three-game sweep of their scheduled best-of-five semifinal series in the PBA Governors Cup at tthe Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Brownlee finished with a double double of 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting, and 14 rebounds in 45 minutes of action to power Ginebra to another inspiring victory.

Scottie Thompson added 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Christian Standhardinger contributed 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Gin Kings of coach Tim Cone.

Jeremiah Gray and Jamie Malonzo chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

“Certainly different from the first two games. Just real struggle,” said Cone after beating the mighty SMB team in three straight games.

“I was ready to give up on that one (3-0 sweep) at various times of the game. But the players wouldn’t quit. If I may borrow from coach Sonny (Jaworksi), it’s NSD, never-say-die, at its finest,” added Cone.

“Every timeout, I was looking into their eyes, at their body language to see if they’re ready to pack it in and go fight on Friday. But I never saw it so I stayed with them. We made a couple of big shots and nice stops and before we knew it, we won the game,” he added.

The Gin Kings actually trailed by 18 points in the third period, 44-62.

But they came charging back.

Gray gave Ginebra the lead, 83-82, with his three-pointer with 1:51 remaining.

Brownlee’s two-pointer extended their lead to three, 85-82.

Marcio Lassiter’s trey tied the game at 85-85 with 26 seconds left.

Standhardinger hit another basket to break the tie, 87-85 with 3.3 seconds left.

SMB had an opportunity to win the game but Lassiter missed a desperation shot.

Import Cameron Clark led the losing effort of San Miguel with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds in 43 minutes on the floor.

CJ Perez added 14 points and seven rebounds.

Lassiter had 13 points and Jericho Cruz and Simon Enciso contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The scores:

Ginebra (87) — Brownlee 22, Thompson 17, Standhardinger 14, Gray 13,
Malonzo 12, Pinto 4, Pessumal 3, Mariano 2, Pringle 0.

San Miguel (85) – Clark 16, Perez 14, Lassiter 13, Cruz 12, Enciso 11,
Tautuaa 6, Herndon 6, Ross 5, Manuel 2.
Quarterscores: 17-16, 38-50, 58-70, 87-85.