Perseverance, hard work pay off for Beermen in 9th PH Cup title
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Thu, 16 May 2019 04:41:34 +0000
JUNE Mar Fajardo has proven that perseverance and hard work were keys to San Miguel Beer’s fifth straight Philippine Cup conquest.
Fajardo showed why he was the league’s five-time reigning Most Valuable Player by collecting as many as rebounds he could, including his last crucial rebound resulting in San Miguel Beer’s 72-71 come-from-behind win in Game 7 of Season 44 of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals.
“We need to play hard and not give up. It was in our mind to overtake Magnolia’s lead and what we did was really difficult especially at the start of fourth period. Our composure was so great,” Fajardo told The Manila Times in Filipino on Wednesday night after the game at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen overhauled a 26-43 deficit in the early part of the third period.
Fajardo, who was named the Finals series Most Valuable Player, dominated the paint as he shattered the league’s longest standing all-time high rebounding record of 29 set by 7-Up’s Marcelo Simbulan in 1975 by registering 31 rebounds in Game 7.
“I’m just thinking to get all the rebounds that I can because that’s my job,” said Fajardo, who also posted 17 points plus two blocks. “We know how hard we’ve been through and we’re all tired. It’s not going to be so easy but we’ll give them a good fight. I’m so thankful that we still got it (championship).”
He also commended Magnolia’s maturity in the series compared with their battle in 2018 also in the finale of the same conference.
San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria, for his part, paid tribute to the hard work of Fajardo and the rest of the Beermen that gave him his seventh title in eight finals appearances.
“I’m so thankful with those players despite the struggles because we are winning a lot of histories. And because of them, I looked like a good coach,” said Austria, who also proved everybody wrong that they couldn’t win in a defensive battle.
“Allow me to congratulate Magnolia for bringing out the best in us. I still can’t believe it that before the series, they said we cannot win if we don’t score more than 100. But today 72 is a winnable score. Coaches say defense wins championship and it happened tonight.”
Besides Fajardo, the Beermen also banked on Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross, Christian Standhardinger, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos, among others, during the series.
San Miguel Beer’s win also handed them a ninth Philippine Cup title and 26th overall crown since joining the league in 1975 as one of the pioneers.
That title also served as first for Terrence Romeo and Kelly Nabong in their pro career.
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