JAPETH Aguilar insisted he wasn’t trying to make a statement with his best-scoring game of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals after losing to June Mar Fajardo in the Best Player of the Conference race.
Coming into Game Four averaging just 11.7 points in the first three games, Aguilar fired 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to help the Gin Kings roll to a 106-92 win to tie the best-of-seven series.
His timely offense came moments after seeing Fajardo raise the BPC plaque for a record-extending 11th time.
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“June Mar is deserving,” Aguilar said of his Gilas Pilipinas teammate. “Out of this world si June Mar. Walang makaka-compete sa kanya. Feel ko every conference, siya lagi yung BPC eh. He’s that dominant.
“Siya yung heart and soul ng team nila,” he added of the San Miguel superstar. “He’s built different. Pinaghirapan niya yun.”
Fajardo topped the statistical points (465) and media votes (476) to finish with a total of 989 points.
Despite finishing a far fifth in stats (335) and second in media votes (252), Aguilar won the players’ vote over Fajardo, 77-48, to finish second overall with 664 points.
After seeing Fajardo win the top individual award, Aguilar went to work right away in Game Four, scoring Ginebra’s first basket by converting a layup off an alley-oop from LA Tenorio.
Early in the second quarter, the 6-foot-9 Aguilar threw down a rim-rattling slam off another alley-oop off, this time from Maverick Ahanmisi, getting the Ginebra crowd wild as it gave them a 34-25 lead.
Then, Aguilar did most of his damage in the third quarter where he scattered 12 points. He finished the game with six boards and two assists, against two turnovers in 32 minutes.
But the eight-time champion insists it wasn’t because he lost the BPC award. He was simply eager to bounce back after a Game Three showing that saw him put up just 10 points and commit six turnovers after playing through postnasal drip that gave him trouble breathing.
“Actually, I had to contemplate din sa mga past games ko, so nag-focus lang ako,” the 2019 Governors’ Cup Finals MVP said.
“For the past game, I wasn’t really forcing stuff, so kanina, nag-focus lang talaga ako; focus sa defense tapos kung ano man maging role ko sa offense, tine-take ko lang. Actually, hindi ko iniisip yung score, pero talagang sobrang hirap, yung stamina ko, sobrang pagod.”
“But finals na, I just battle through adversity,” he continued.
Expect Aguilar to keep battling as Ginebra tries to take the series lead in Game Five on Wednesday night at the Big Dome.
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