Cebuano big man June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen holds his Best Player of the Conference plaque prior to the start of Game 4 of the Philippine Cup Finals.
inquirer
Cebuano Fajardo wins fifth Best Player of the Conference award as SMB takes 3-1 lead
June Mar Fajardo continues to etch his legend among the league’s greats.
The ever-humble Cebuano giant rewrote the history books anew, winning his fifth Best Player of the Conference award on yesterday.
The honor allowed Fajardo to tie the record set by Beermen great Danny Ildefonso, who also won five BPC awards in his 17-year career.
The 6-foot-10 big ma can’t help but be overwhelmed with the distinction he now shares with his mentor.
“Of course, I feel proud because I don’t expect that I can match him. I just feel really happy,” said Fajardo in Filipino.
Averaging 19.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.5 assists, Fajardo has once again stamped his class among the locals, winning his fourth BPC plum in an all-Filipino conference.
And after helping San Miguel reach the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, it’s all but a lock that the three-time PBA Most Valuable Player adds another hardware to his already loaded trophy collection.
Fajardo netted 1217 votes to nab the crown, besting fellow candidates GlobalPort’s Terrence Romeo, Alaska’s Calvin Abueva, and teammates Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos.
However, Fajardo’s goal remains the same: to help give San Miguel its third straight Philippine Cup and claim the Perpetual trophy.
“I’m thankful, but it’s better if all of us are happy so I really want to be a champion again.”
And yesterday, he helped the Beermen inch closer to achieving that goal as he scored 20 points to lead San Miguel to a 94-85 win in Game 4 of the best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup finals.
Marcio Lassiter also had 20 and Chris Ross added 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds as San Miguel Beer pulled to within a win away from winning its 23rd title in the league.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 94 – Fajardo 20, Lassiter 20, Ross 17, Cabagnot 13, Santos 8, Tubid 8, De Ocampo 5, Espinas 3, Heruela 0.
GINEBRA 85 – Devance 22, Aguilar 12, Tenorio 12, Ellis 10, Thompson 7, Ferrer 6, Mercado 6, Marcelo 4, Caguioa 3, Mariano 2, Cruz 1, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 30-18, 55-34, 76-63, 94-85. /inquirer.net
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