Barangay Ginebra San Miguel fashioned out a 100-95 win in Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. With this pulsating win, the Gin Kings now take a 3-2 lead and can close out the series in Game 6 on Sunday.
What Happened?
Game 5 started tight, with TNT and Ginebra exchanging leads early. A five-point cluster by Justin Brownlee then helped the crowd darlings end the opening frame on an 11-4 run to take a 25-17 cushion after one. The barangay extended that lead to 34-22 before the Tropa unleashed a 15-0 blast to retake the lead, 37-34. It was nip-and-tuck from that point forward, with TNT ending the first half with a 50-48 advantage.
The Tropa came out with renewed fire in the third canto and built as much as a 64-53 lead on an RR Pogoy conversion at the 6:20 mark. But, behind Brownlee, Ginebra managed to trim the gap to 70-65 entering the final frame. The barangay continued to ride JB’s hot hand well into the fourth but was still down, 87-80, with 3:55 left. A Brownlee-led 9-0 run then put Ginebra back in the driver’s seat, 89-87, only for Pogoy to tie things up with 1:10 on the clock. Empty possessions from both teams eventually sent Game 5 to overtime.
Brownlee opened the scoring in OT with five straight to stake Ginebra up, 94-92. RJ Abarrientos then got involved after a quiet first four quarters as he hit a driving floater, fed Troy Rosario for a layup, and made two crucial freebies that gave Ginebra a 100-95 lead. It proved to be the final score.
Who Stood Out?
No one stood out quite like Justin Brownlee in Game 5. The newly minted Best Import of the Conference fired a career-high 54 points, with 35 coming in the second half. Aside from scoring over half of Ginebra’s points, JB also had 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Over at TNT, Brownlee’s counterpart Chris McCullough wasn’t too shabby either, coming away with 38 points on top of 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. RR Pogoy showed out as well, firing 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting while adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
3 Keys to the Game
- Justin Brownlee. JB carried Ginebra the entire second half, scoring 35 of the team’s 52 second-half points. He also made all the big plays, from fadeaways to inside incursions to defensive stops. Put simply, Ginebra doesn’t win without Brownlee’s singular brilliance.
- Shooting. Basketball is largely a hit-or-miss sport, and in Game 5, Ginebra just hit more of their shots than TNT. For the game, the Gin Kings shot 44.6%, with Brownlee making over half of his shots in the second half. In contrast, TNT shot just 41.9% and went 9-for-31 in the second half.
- NSD. The Tropa looked well in control of Game 5 even if their biggest lead was just 11. But Ginebra—or Brownlee, more specifically—just kept grinding and chipping away at that TNT cushion. By the last six minutes of regulation, the Gin Kings were right in the thick of things, and JB himself made sure to tow them over to OT and, ultimately, the win.
Next Up for the PBA
Sunday, June 14, 2026 | Smart Araneta Coliseum
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs. TNT Tropang 5G (7:30 p.m.)
