June Mar Fajardo did a touching gesture during San Miguel’s match against NLEX Tuesday night when he tapped his teammate Arwind Santos’ chest to give him encouragement after Santos hit a triple in the first quarter.
Santos knocked down the attempt just shortly after he checked in; the wing man pointed upstairs after the conversion, dedicating the shot to his late mother, before Fajardo approached him and tapped his chest to give the Beermen’s leader an emotional boost.
“Noong last game namin, para ngang wala kaming nagawa. So sabi ko sa kaniya, tira lang, kumpiyansa lang, kasi alam naman na galing siya sa alam na natin so kailangan rin niya ng magandang booster,” Fajardo, who finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds, said.
“Ganoon rin naman ginagawa niya sa akin,” Fajardo said of Santos, who has been his teammate ever since entering the league in 2012.
Santos shared after the game how thankful he is to have his teammates stand by his side and give him solace during an understandably tough time.
“Siyempre, pinasalamatan ko yung teammates ko, in-offer nila yung (panalo), tsaka yung suporta nila ‘pag balik ko, hindi pa ako ganoong ka-fully-recovered pero andoon pa rin sila, nagpa-practice, kinakausap nila ako, sinusubukan nilang maibalik yung (kondisyon ko),” Santos said.
“Hindi ganoong kadali dahil sabi ko nga, ang mama ko, isa siya sa malaking ugat na nakadugtong sa puso ko, na kailangan ngayon, naghahanap ako ng maliliit na ugat para matugunan yun. Kahit papano, sa teammates ko, sa mga fans, sa pamilya ko, doon ko kukunin yun.”
Though he fouled out before the end of regulation, Santos had a much better showing in the victory over the Road Warriors than he did last Sunday, scoring 15 points on 50 percent shooting to help the Beermen rise to second spot with a 6-3 card.
“Siguro maganda lang rin na nakumpleto kami ulit. Hindi pa naman ako fully-recovered pero nakaka-recover na,” Santos added.
The moment only spoke of the brotherhood among the Beermen.
Through thick and thin, through the good times and the rough ones, through countless Petronovela chapters and now grand slam talks, members of the organization are helping each other out, and that has been one of the keys to the franchise’s dominance in the last two seasons.
