San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo during Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—June Mar Fajardo, as expected, displayed grace in defeat after a rare PBA Finals loss by the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Cup on Sunday.
Fajardo, a 10-time PBA champion, made sure to give credit where credit is due, tipping his hat to the Meralco Bolts, who closed out the Beermen in six grueling games.
“That’s really how it is. That’s how the sport is. We need to accept the losses,” said Fajardo in Filipino after a heartbreaking 80-78 loss that gave the Bolts their first-ever PBA title.
“It’s Meralco’s time to win the championship. Let’s clap for those who deserve it, let’s congratulate those who deserve the congratulations.”
Fajardo gave everything he had in the finals, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 6. He also made a clutch triple that would have forced overtime had it not been for Chris Newsome’s game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left.
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The loss was Fajardo’s first loss in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals after winning in his last six trips to the all-Filipino championship round.
“While it’s painful to lose, that’s just how life is. We won championships but this time, it’s Meralco’s time. The ball was theirs. Let’s congratulate them, they played well as a whole,” said the seven-time PBA MVP, who missed a last-second 3-pointer that would’ve won it for San Miguel.
“As for us, we’ll keep our heads up. It’s not the end of the world for us, right? There’s still the next conference so we can bounce back there.”