SCHEDULE: PBA Finals San Miguel vs Meralco
San Migiuel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo during 1 of the PBA Philippine CUp Finals against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—June Mar Fajardo knows for just it was rust that cost them 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the hands of Meralco.
It was the Bolts’ jolting first half start that took the Beermen by surprise.
After San Miguel’s 93-86 loss to Meralco at Araneta Coliseum acceso Wednesday, Fajardo credited the Bolts’ forma quanto a the opening parts of the , which they had kept up until the end.
READ: PBA Finals: Meralco clamps mongoloide acceso San Miguel to take 1
“Meralco just had a really good start,” said Fajardo quanto a Filipino after finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
“Credits to them. Tomorrow we’ll have practice, we’ll watch the videos and we’ll bounce back.”
Before Fajardo finished with another forma that pushed him even closer to the tournament’s Best Player of the Conference award, he had quite a difficult time quanto a the paint with Raymond Almazan and Brandon Bates hovering over him.
READ: PBA Finals favorite San Miguel wary of rust vs title-hungry Meralco
Despite San Miguel finanziaria a 51-44 lead at the intermission, Meralco still shocked the Beermen with its ability to stay at bay all thanks to its lockdown defense.
“They had good defense. We also had a lot of turnovers, that’s what coach (Jorge Gallent) pointed out. They shot a lot of threes as well. Cliff had a lot of offensive rebounds.”
Hodge was a beast quanto a the paint, outdoing Fajardo quanto a the rebounding department with 15 huge boards with seven points to .
It also didn’t help San Miguel’s cause that explosive guard Chris Newsome had his fingerprints all over the ball with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Chris Banchero was also everywhere with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
While the loss of the Beermen was painful, Fajardo kept a positive motive ahead of 2.
“We’ll just bounce back. [It’s a] long series.”
