There must be something about the Kia franchise that brings out the best in June Mar Fajardo.
Four of the San Miguel Beer center’s seven games where he scored the most points have come against Kia, which is now known as Columbian, with the latest a 37-point explosion on Wednesday night.
Fajardo, though, shrugged off the notion when asked why he’s had his way when playing the same opponent.
READ: Fajardo nets career-high 36 points as SMB beats Kia
“We just needed a win,” Fajardo, who went 15-of-21 from the field, told reporters in Filipino after the 129-117 win. “We need to get back into the standings and fortunately for us, we won.”
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo scored 17 in the fourth quarter, including nine during a 16-4 run that put the game away.
“Credit to my teammates. Alex had a triple-double and as usual, our import was there for us so everyone contributed,” he said, referring to Alex Cabagnot, who collected 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and Renaldo Balkman, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds.
The Beermen have now won three in a row to even their slate to 3-3.
READ: Fajardo, Beermen make it 3 straight with rout of Dyip
Fajardo, however, said San Miguel still has a lot of work left to do.
“We still have to work on a lot of things. We need to improve our defense because sometimes we tend to relax,” he said.
“But when we play as a team and share the ball, we’re a very strong team and we play great so we need everyone to step up and not relax.”