San Miguel Beer welcomed the return of main man June Mar Fajardo by scoring 125-117 win over Blackwater to secure a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After being sidelined for six weeks due to a fractured left ring finger, Fajardo almost wound up with a double-double, firing 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Beermen boosted their win-loss record to 8-3.
But it wasn’t a stroll for San Miguel.
Even another fiery performance by import Bennie Boatwright didn’t deter the Bossing from putting up a gallant stand.
Still, the Beermen could not be denied a huge victory that could place them at No. 2 or No. 3 in the leaderboard depending in the result of the last elimination-round game between Phoenix Super LPG and TNT Tropang Giga on Sunday.
A Tropang Giga victory over the Fuel Masters would allow the Beermen to forge a tie with Phoenix, but San Miguel, which defeated Phoenix, 117-96, on Christmas Day, will secure the No. 2 seed by virtue of the win-over-the-other rule.
Watching Fajardo back in harness was a refreshing sight for San Miguel.
“He was great after an absence of five, six games,” said San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent.
“I was expecting that his conditioning would bother him, but it didn’t. It goes to show that even when he was not playing, you could tell that he was lifting weights and doing the things in getting his game wind back.”
As Fajardo made a rousing return to active duty, Boatwright was on-point anew, sinking eight triples en route to a solid showing of 22 points and 12 boards.
Despite another explosive game, Boatwright refused to accept that it was his massive contributions that propelled the team to a win.
“They made it easier for me, the coaching staff made it easier for me,” added Boatwright, college teammate of former Magnolia import Nick Rakocevic at University of Southern California.
“All I have to do there is play hard and live with the results.”
Terrence Romeo was one of five local players who contributed in double figures as the multiple-time scoring champion was also able to display his playmaking brilliance.
He had 14 points to go along with six assists.
CJ Perez, a two-time scoring champion, had 15 points, Jericho Cruz added 12, and Don Trollano produced 10 points for the Beermen, who shot a steady 52 percent shooting from the field (45-of-86).
