JUNE Mar Fajardo welcomed the contribution he finally got from his entire support cast that proved a major factor in San Miguel Beer’s 105-92 Game Four win over Rain or Shine in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.
The SMB superstar had another monster game with 33 points, 16 boards, six blocks, and three assists in 39 minutes, but he was more than happy his teammates also stepped up.
Arwind Santos broke out of a scoring slump, pumping in 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting including two triples, after averaging just 11 points in his last two games. And Marcio Lassiter knocked down all his four treys, while Ronald Tubid added one three-pointer, which helped space the floor for the SMB giant.
“Malaking bagay kasi nase-stretch yung depensa at walang masyadong double sa akin,” Fajardo said.
“Maganda rin yung nilaro ng bench namin, nag-step up lahat ng pinasok ni coach,” the reigning MVP added.
Chris Ross, a defense-first guard, led the bench mob as he was aggressive on offense to finish with 13 points while also tallying five boards, four steals, and three assists.
Fajardo also noted that ROS being undermanned contributed to SMB’s success as well.
“Malaking bagay para sa amin na kulang sila,” the 6-foot-10 slotman said as he frolicked in the paint without injured Raymond Almazan in front of him. “Yung scoring na naibibigay nila, yung energy ni Jericho (Cruz), nawala.”