Ginebra unleashed a strong start and an even stronger finish to crush San Miguel Beer, 127-99, in Game 1 of their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Justin Brownlee caught fire early to set the tone for the Kings’ onslaught of the Beermen, who are looking for their seventh title in the last 11 conferences.

Brownlee, the former Saint John University star, delivered 29 points in the first half with a sizzling 12-of-13 field goal shooting that allowed the Kings to erect a 19 point lead at the half, 69-50.

Brownlee finished the night with 17-of-19 field goal shooting, including a perfect 5-of-5 clip from the three point line, for 42 points with seven rebounds and nine assists for a near-triple double.

With the win, Barangay Ginebra seized a 1-0 lead against the defending champion in this race-to-four mid-season conference titular showdown.

“That was a surprise. It was just one of those nights that we had it, and they didn’t. We just clicked from all cylinders. We never let up. This type of game happens, even in the finals,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

Brownlee got ample support from his local teammates with skipper Joe Devance scoring 20 points while veteran Mark Caguioa put on a vintage performance with 11 points in just 10 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, Balkman had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Beermen who suffered their worst loss of the conference.

Prior to this game, San Miguel essayed the two of the season’s greatest comebacks – both from 23 points down – against Talk ‘N Text in Game 1 of the Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals and against Magnolia in Game 5 of the Philippine Cup finals to prove that they are capable of crawling out of a huge deficit.

But it didn’t happen this time as the Beermen just couldn’t recover from a flat start against the Kings, who won 10 of their last 11 games dating back from the elimination round where they started with 1-5 win-loss slate.

This was the second straight time San Miguel dropped Game 1 of this title series since losing to Magnolia in the Philippine Cup championship before racking up four straight wins for their fourth Philippine Cup title in a row.

San Miguel will seek to level the series in pivotal Game 2 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to avoid a deep 0-2 hole.

Ginebra, however, will surely go hard to claim a 2-0 edge and move two wins away from being the only squad to beat the mighty Beermen, who are regarded as the most successful team in the past couple of years.

Ginebra 127 – Brownlee 42, Devance 20, Slaughter 11, Caguioa 11, Mercado 10, Tenorio 9, Thompson 7, Ferrer 7, Mariano 4, Chan 2, Cruz 2, Aguilar 2, Caperal 0, Manuel 0.

San Miguel 99 – Balkman 27, Standhardinger 26, Fajardo 13, Santos 8, Lassiter 6, Cabagnot 5, Nabong 5, Ross 4, Lanete 3, Pessumal 0.

Quarterscores: 35-20, 69-50, 94-75, 127-99.

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