June Mar Fajardo may have posted 26 markers and nine boards in the San Miguel Beermen’s 103-97 victory over the Meralco Bolts Wednesday, but even he himself knows that he had to collect that amount of numbers in a hard way.
And he has the Bolts’ hefty center Ken Bono to blame for.
Bono may be standing seven inches shorter than Fajardo, but it was his wide-bodied physique that served as his main weapon in guarding the Kraken all through out their match at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
“He did pretty well tonight against June Mar,” lauded Meralco head coach Norman Black of Bono, who finished with eight points. “Can’t really stop June Mar, but he did a pretty decent job of at least trying to push him out of the lane.
“Yeah, I was happy with the way Ken played.”
Matching up with the former UAAP Most Valuable Player was definitely a tedious job for Fajardo, especially around the basket and whenever he tries to back him down. With that, the Cebuano star tipped his hat to the Ilonggo.
“Bigat nya eh, tapos malaki din,” said Fajardo, who only had the chance to unleash himself in the fourth quarter, where he scored 13 of the Beermen’s last 18 points from their 85-80 lead. “Magagaling din naman talaga sila.
“‘Di mo naman basta matatambakan talaga yun kasi organized team din sila.”
Nevertheless, a win is a win, as they say. And for the league’s reigning four-time Most Valuable Player, Wednesday’s victory, which had sent SMB to 2-0 in the 2017-2018 Philippine Cup, is a good momentum heading into next year.
“Maganda para sa amin ito kasi matatapos namin yung taon na panalo,” he said. “Hopefully, magtuloy-tuloy lang kami.
“I-enjoy namin yung New Year then dapat manage namin yung puyat kasi may games pa kaming darating.”
