MYLES POWELL delivered as expected to help Hong Kong Bay Area beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 87-84, on Wednesday night and send the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup to a winner-take-all Game 7.
Powell was activated from injury in the series and didn’t disappoint.
He scattered with 29 points on 11 of 20 shooting from the field and had seven rebounds to power the Dragons in Game 6 where an SRO crowd of 22,361 packed the Smart Araneta Coliseum anticipating a Gin Kings celebration.
That didn’t happen as the Dragons scraped through every minute of the tight game to tie the series at 3-3 and send the series to a Game 7 that Commissioner Willie Marcial announced after the game would be played on Sunday—instead of Friday—at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“Just being out there with my brothers who are all willing to win. I know what we had to do and I know what I meant to the team,” Powell said. “If I could not do that, I won’t be there stepping up on the floor.”
Powell missed the first five games of the series but proved to be Dragons coach Brian Goorjian’s equalizer.
He didn’t only dazzled in offence throughout but secured what turned out as the insurance rebound from his own miss from the foul line in the waning seconds.
The Gin Kings erased the Dragons’ 58-46 lead in the third quarter but Powell was there to will his team in the game.
Justin Brownlee put the visitors within striking distance, 84-85, with a layup with more than two minutes left, but the Gin Kings couldn’t sustain their run as Powell relentlessly attacked the basket.
Ginebra’s bid for a desperation three-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime went to naught with Japeth Aguilar, instead of Brownlee, attempting from beyond the arc on a Brownlee inbounds.
Hayden Blankely finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Songwei Zhu had a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists and Glen Yang made 10 points for the Dragons.
Brownlee led Ginebra with a triple double of 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Game 7 tips off at 5:45 p.m.