Fajardo on pace to win 5th BPC award

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

History beckons for three-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo as he continues to rack up accolades.

If things stay as they are, the Cebuano giant is bound to win his fifth Best Player of the Conference award this 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.

Fajardo is currently leading the statistical points (SPs) race after the elimination round where he helped San Miguel clinch the top seed with a 10-1 card.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo averaged 19.9 points, a league-best 16.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.7 blocks to garner 45.0 SPs.

Fajardo is gunning for his fourth BPC in the all-Filipino conference and fifth overall, tying him with his mentor Danny Ildefonso.

GlobalPort star Terrence Romeo is second, who has 41.5 SPs thanks to his averages of 28.7 points, 6.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.

San Miguel’s dominance has also been evident in the BPC race with three other Beermen making it to the top 10.

Arwind Santos sits in third with 34.2 SPs, followed by Alex Cabagnot in fourth with 33.4 SPs. Marcio Lassiter is in eighth with 30.5 SPs.

Ginebra forward Japeth Aguilar completes the top five with 32.0 SPs.

Rounding out the top 10 are Phoenix’s Matthew Wright (31.7 SPs), Alaska’s Calvin Abueva (30.6 SPs), Mahindra’s Alex Mallari (29.5 SPs), and Meralco’s Chris Newsome (29.3 SPs).

Wright also leads the Rookie of the Year race averaging 17.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals.

Blackwater’s Mac Belo is second among rookies (27.7 SPs), Star’s Jio Jalalon in third (23.2 SPs), TNT’s Roger Pogoy in fourth (18.5 SPs), and Alaska’s Carl Bryan Cruz in fifth (16.2 SPs).