With injured Junemar Fajardo playing limited minutes, the San Miguel Beermen drew strength from six others, and with Fajardo providing his teammates a reason and inspiration to bounce back.
Drawing 16 points from Marcio Lassiter, the Beermen downed the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings, 100-83, to equalized their 49th Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup semifinals series at 1-all.
Coach Leo Austria said the 6’10” Fajardo is not the only that the Beermen can count on when action ended on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“They know that the situation is, when we learned that Junemar will have managed minutes, and play on my discretion. They say Junemar is our strength, but don’t forget, the strength of Junemar is with his teammates,” said Austria.
Fajardo’s time on the floor was limited due to the calf injury he suffered in the series opener, and Mo Tautuaa took his place inside the slot.
Lassiter led the Beermen’s opening salvo, a 21-9 blast, and they went to post a 26-15 first quarter lead.
With Don Trollano, Kris Rosales and CJ Perez backing up Rosales in the second period, the Beermen stayed in control, 54-41, at halftime.
“The strength of Junemar is his teammates. It was very evident tonight,” added Austria.
As Cruz shot eight of 11 points in the last period, the Beermen moved away by as much as 23 points, 90-67 after Philip Cahilig drained a trey with 7:34 left.
Tautuaa, who took on the slotman role for Fajardo, finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“I have to appreciate him because he is a warrior. He’s a team player. He wants his team to be inspired by showing up to the game early. That’s enough for the team up to gain some confidence,” added Austria on Fajardo.
