Beermen ease past Enforcers behind Fajardo’s 35

PBA IMAGES

San Miguel extended its winning streak to six after decimating Mahindra, 102-86, to take solo lead in the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

June Mar Fajardo, the reigning back-to-back MVP, came just a point shy of matching his career-high in scoring with 35 that went with 11 rebounds to lead the Beermen, who hiked their record to 7-1.

The Enforcers, who dropped to 2-6, simply had no answer for Fajardo. The Cebuano giant, who set his career-high last season against Mahindra (formerly Kia), had an efficient night as he shot 13-of-17 shooting from the field.

Beermen head coach Leo Austria knew the first step in stopping Mahindra is to contain the duo of Mark Yee and LA Revilla and his game plan worked as neither of the two reached double figures in scoring.

“Tonight our game plan against Yee was to contain him, these guys, him and LA, are their top scorers,” Austria said. “Our main concern is to stop LA because I think he’s the heart and soul of the team.”

Fajardo made his first 10 shots and all of his nine free throws. He capped the Beermen’s 13-3 run in the third quarter with a nifty layup in transition that put San Miguel up, 62-42.

Brian Heruela added 14 points and eight assists to go along three steals while Arwind Santos shook off a poor first half to finish with 11 points and five boards. Ronald Tubid also finished with 11 points while JayR Reyes had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Aldrech Ramos led Mahindra with 13 points and seven rebounds while rookie Bradwyn Guinto had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double.