Big man from Pinamungajan June Mar Fajardo starting to get groove back in the PBA

Cebuano June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer drives to the basket in a game against Northport on Sunday, March 10, 2019. | PBA Images

Cebu City, Philippines — Cebuano behemoth June Mar Fajardo made his return to the PBA in a huge way, along the way earning his first Cignal-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week this conference.

The 6-foot-10 native of Pinamungahan town, southwestern Cebu was in fine MVP form as he averaged 33.5 points, 16 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting a remarkable 85.7 percent from the floor to lead San Miguel Beer to wins over NLEX and NorthPort last week.

The five-time PBA Most Valuable Player and proud product of the University of Cebu (UC) beat out Columbian rookie CJ Perez and young gunner Rashawn McCarthy, Meralco’s Baser Amer, TNT’s Roger Pogoy and Ginebra’s LA Tenorio and Aljon Mariano for the weekly citation for the period of March 6 to 10, 2019.

The 29-year-old Fajardo tallied 27 points, 13 rebounds and two assists, on 10-of-13 shooting to lead SMB past NLEX, 121-111, last Friday, March 8, 2019.

But Fajardo saved his conference-best later in the week as he fired 40 points, grabbed 19 boards and dished off three assists as San Miguel defeated NorthPort, 113-107, on Sunday, March 10, 2019. 

He finished the game with a near perfect 14-of-15 shooting from the field.

It was his best game since tallying 42 points and 20 rebounds in Game 5 of their title-clinching win in last season’s Philippine Cup Finals over Magnolia.

The Beermen have won their last four games overall to move to solo third spot in the standings with their 6-3 (win-loss) record. 

Phoenix paces the tournament with its 8-2 record with Rain or Shine at second spot with a 7-3 card. /bmjo