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PBA: Dragons proud to match Ginebra's 'never say die' spirit

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Bay Area" s="" Zhu="" Songwei="" reacts="" to="" a="" play="" against="" Barangay="" Ginebra="" in="" Game="" of="" the="" PBA="" Cup="" Finals.="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/01/14/pba_bad-zhu-songwei.jpg"/><figcaption>Bay Area&#x27;s Zhu Songwei reacts to a play against Barangay Ginebra in Game 6 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup Finals. PBA Images.</figcaption></figure></div> MANILA, Philippines -- Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian believes that his team has matched the famed &quot;never say die&quot; spirit of Barangay Ginebra throughout their encounters in the 2022 PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup Finals.Bay Area, which is competing in the conference as a guest team, has fought back at every turn against the Gin Kings. With their backs against the wall in Game 6 last Wednesday, they overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter to snatch an 87-84 win and force the series to a deciding seventh game. Myles Powell silenced the pro-Ginebra crowd at the Araneta Coliseum, scoring 12 of his team-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Dragons&#x27; comeback. &quot;There was an energy with the group looking at me that we weren&#x27;t done yet,&quot; Goorjian said after their hard-earned win. &quot;That&#x27;s pretty impressive, being ahead like we had, and they went up seven and this place is going nuts.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/11/23/powell-stars-as-bay-area-forces-game-7-vs-ginebra">GAME RECAP: Powell stars as Bay Area forces Game 7 vs. Ginebra</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/11/23/pba-game-7-in-ph-arena-a-dream-come-true-for-dragons">READ: Game 7 in PH Arena a &#x27;dream come true&#x27; for Dragons</a></li></ul>Bay Area led by as much as 12 points but Justin Brownlee exploded for 16 points in the third quarter to bring Ginebra back to life. The Gin Kings would pull ahead by seven points early in the final period, and the crowd of over 22,000 fans at the Big Dome revved itself up for a celebration.Powell had other ideas, however. The former Philadelphia 76er hit an array of big shots in the closing stretch, while Ginebra&#x27;s offense sputtered. A last-ditch triple by Japeth Aguilar misfired as the buzzer sounded, allowing Bay Area to hold on for the win. &quot;It would have been easy to just fall by the wayside,&quot; Goorjian said of his team. &quot;But there was a spirit there.&quot;Asked if this is similar to Ginebra&#x27;s famed &quot;never say die&quot; spirit, the coach said: &quot;Exactly.&quot;&quot;It&#x27;s what the Filipinos pride themselves on, but we wanna match that,&quot; Goorjian stressed. &quot;We wanna match that, and they certainly have shown it.&quot;Ginebra had given the Dragons a close-up look at what &quot;never say die&quot; meant in Game 3 of the series, when they erased a 14-point deficit and claimed an 89-82 win. But Bay Area showed that they, too, can play with similar heart when they bucked the absence of an import for a 94-86 triumph in Game 4.The Dragons again displayed their poise in Game 6, denying Ginebra a celebration at the Big Dome.&quot;I&#x27;m proud of the fact that we haven&#x27;t gone anywhere in this. We&#x27;ve taken the punches and kept in there throwing them back. It&#x27;s a hell of a series,&quot; said Goorjian. Their spirit will be tested like never before come Game 7, when they play Ginebra for all the marbles at the Philippine Arena. A record-breaking crowd is expected at the venue on Sunday -- most of them cheering for the Gin Kings.That they will face a hostile crowd of potentially 50,000 fans is an exciting prospect for Goorjian and the Dragons.&quot;You know, the first few games, I think it affected us,&quot; Bay Area point guard Glen Yang said of the crowd. &quot;But at this point, we love it. We embrace that villain role. We know everyone is against us, and at the end of the day, it&#x27;s fun. You&#x27;d rather have that than no one in the crowd.&quot; &quot;We always say, we play basketball for entertainment. A lot of people are in bubbles and hubs now, playing in front of 1,500 people. We&#x27;re in a country that loves basketball and the stadium&#x27;s packed,&quot; said Goorjian, for his part.&quot;We got 50,000 people waiting for us? That&#x27;s why we&#x27;re here. That&#x27;s why we&#x27;re breathing.&quot;<div>PBA Season 47 games can be streamed live and on-demand on iWantTFC with a Premium subscription, available worldwide except PH and US. </div>

Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian believes that his team has matched the 'never say die' spirit of Ginebra in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals.

PBA: Dragons proud to match Ginebra's 'never say die' spirit

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PBA: Dragons proud to match Ginebra's 'never say die' spirit

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 14, 2023 06:31 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

PBA

PBA Commissioner's Cup

Bay Area Dragons

Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings

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