Fajardo leads PBA PH Cup ‘Best Player’ race; Aguilar drops to 3rd

June Mar Fajardo. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Sophomore June Mar Fajardo kept his edge in statistical points at the end of the semifinal round to headline the finalists for the Best Player of the Conference award in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Even after Petron’s thwarted finals bid, the six-foot-11 Cebuano center still emerged with the lead in the BPC race with 38.8 SPs with an average of 16.4 points, 14.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.6 blocks in 18 games.

Not far behind is teammate Arwind Santos, the league’s reigning most valuable player, who garnered 35.8 SPs, while Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar, whose dip in performance in the semis may hurt his chances, dropped to third with 35.2 SPs.

Rounding out the top 5 are Globalport forward Jay Washington, who only played 12 games but still collected 34.5 SPs, and the Kings’ behemoth Greg Slaughter, who had 33.6 SPs.

No one from the finalists, who started their best-of-seven series on Friday, made it to the top 5, and not one Elastopainter even landed on the top 20.

San Mig Coffee’s Mark Barroca, who had a phenomenal showing in the semis, was at ninth with an average of 29 SPs, while, according to PBA’s head statistician Fidel Mangonon, Rain or Shine’s Jervy Cruz finished 21st.

It now boils down to the votes from the PBA officials, fellow players, and the sports media to determine the BPC winner, who will be named before game four of the finals on Feb. 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Slaughter, meanwhile, led all rookies followed by Globalport’s Terrence Romeo (22.2 SPs), Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan (19.5 SPs), San Mig Coffee’s Ian Sangalang (19.3 SPs), and Rain or Shine’s Alex Nuyles (16.5) in the top 5.