SAN Miguel held its own against a literal gigantic foe in Bay Area Dragons to stay alive in the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals series.
And so did June Mar Fajardo.
See Christmas Day tip-off for PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo put up double-double performances to help the defending champion avert a sweep in their best-of-five duel.
After losing the first two games, including a 103-102 heartbreaker in the series opener, the Beermen snatched a big one in Game Three, a thrilling 98-96 win to keep its finals hopes alive.
A bunch of Beermen delivered to stay in the championship hunt, but it was Fajardo’s presence that steadied the ship.
The six-time MVP averaged 22.3 points on 61-percent shooting clip along with 11.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks to earn the Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period Dec. 14 to 18.
“Do-or-die na kami, so kailangan namin mag-step up. Sabi nga ni coach (Leo Austria), kung ano laman ng tank namin kailangan na namin ilabas," said Fajardo, the last Player of the Week for the conference heading to the finals on Christmas Day.
Fajardo came up with 21 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, a steal and three blocks even against the twin dragons of Andrew Nicholson and Liu Chuanxing as the Beermen pulled off an amazing Game Three comeback, highlighted by Simon Enciso’s game-winner.
In Game One, the pride of Cebu had 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and had 35 points, 10 boards, an assist, a steal and a block in Game Two.
Fajardo was chosen over Barangay Ginebra’s LA Tenorio and San Miguel teammate CJ Perez for the weekly citation being given by the men and women from print and online media regularly covering the PBA beat.
Still trailing 1-2, Fajardo and the Beermen hope to sustain the momentum as they seek to force a rubber match against Bay Area in Game 4 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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